The Worldcrossing Litanies
by Nuclear Burp
Summary: Great, so we're stuck in a universe populated by Xenocidal, dominatrix-inclined angels intent on destroying the human race. Sora, this was definitely not one of your better ideas...
1. Prologue

_This is a story about things that are legend, and where the legends are wrong. Think of elves, but without the ears or the magic or the longetivity. All you're left with is the arrogance and the snobby noses; suddenly elves aren't as wonderful as you thought._

_But this story is also of the nature of angels, of children, of hope and betrayal and conspiracy. This is the story of hypocrites, of the conception of demons, of confusion and of realizing things too late._

_And even I, the storyteller, do not know where the truth died. Likely, it died centuries before I was born, shattered in a crucible of paranoia, complacency and xenophobia. I can see where the evils of others mirror the evils of man, reversed in the mirror of reality though they are. Once, however, I didn't. That led to this story being told._

_There are two beginnings. One is with a young man in his twenties, by the name of Terra. He who, by fair means or simple coincidence, gave power unto three young children. Their names were Sora, Kairi and Riku; they met in odd circumstances, hazed over with childish innocence, good intentions and fading memory. They grew older, wiser, stronger, bulking and curving and testifying to the miracle that is age. Sora went exploring, Riku cultivated the dark powers that lay dormant within him, and Kairi grew more acute in the mind. Magic bloomed, friendships were tested, second sides were forced to live in the realm of Nothings. Roxas and Namine, Shadow-halves of Sora and Kairi, were created._

_And then they came back. For six months after their return, their efforts were in schooling, the process by which humans become specialized and contribute to their fledgling communities. In those six months, Riku learned Calculus, Sora studied Social sciences and Kairi simply shook her head, helping them with homework. A blush, a stammer and a stutter once a week after hanging out together on the beach were all that testified to the changing dynamic between Sora and Kairi, while Riku made peace with his frenzied caregiver. Roxas and Namine were introduced into the silent islands, breathing in the sea-salt air as they did, and the locals soon integrated them into their lives. The guardians of the original trio were cautious, at first, after listening to the tales of their creation, but still they caved in after much sincere pleading. Life had changed, and stayed the same. The little world was still little, still peaceful, and still beautiful._

_If the other beginning hadn't happened, that would have never been threatened. _

_The second beginning happened six years after the first, after Terra had been bound to his armour in the caverns of Hollow Bastion. Two figures, one bleeding and one dragging it to an abandoned shack further inland of the main Island, fell from a gaping hole in the sky. That night, the shrieking of trapped beasts and dying men haunted the island, leaving the morning eerily feeling like a cemetery. The stench of death lingered in the tiniest of traces, making the townsfolk shiver as they went about their tasks._

_The police were phoned, and an expedition to the shack was made. They found the walls coated in blood, with a young man cradling the body of his almost-dead sister, tears falling onto cold, unfeeling skin. They called for Paramedics, and by the time the girl and man were placed on the stretchers, still bleeding from every limb even after a night of rest. They lay together on the hospital beds, not moving, barely breathing, showing no improvement as the weeks passed. They did not wake._

_And then, one normal day, there was a flash from the ward, and they were sitting on their beds looking healthy and energetic, a bizarre contrast from the thin, gaunt figures that had been there before. The man looked a little different, but the woman was just as they had pictured her to look. They claimed it a miracle._

_The man was skilled in magic, and after acquiring the capital to buy the deed to the shack and the land it was on, summoned marble and wood to build a small manse. His name, Naba. His sister was Feni, and they refused to talk about where they had come from. They were quiet and, while grateful to the populace, did not mingle, although Feni became Riku's ersatz big sister two years after she arrived when his parents passed away. They grew their own food, supplied their own needs, and unless a charm needed recharging or an obstruction needed to be magicked away, they kept to themselves. The townsfolk eventually forgot about them._

_And then came the eve of Sora's sixteenth birthday. Riku asked Feni to chauffeur them to the place of celebration and back to the manse, where they would indulge in the teen's first foray into hard liquor. Naba, instead, vouched to go, claiming his sister was better at setting up the fixtures for the party._

_This is where the story begins, in a little al fresco restaurant on the cliff overlooking the sea…_

… _and this is where the truth ends._


	2. The Nose Rebels

_'You have the co-ordinates. I have the plan.' Who would have thought that Human magicka avoided such things? I thought I could control it, that my people could control it. We could not. I could not. That is why we were enslaved, that is how we were servants forever. _

_That is why the humans are my tools. Until the day I realized…_

--

"Boooooosssssss." The waitress called once she made her way into the kitchen, where a grumbling chef was scolding a young saucier for bringing in his pet rat. "Boss." She repeated, drawing up to his side and tugging on his sleeves, "You got the orders ready for the eight-thirty? Table for ten?"

The chef sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he checked the menu. The already-two-hours-prepared meals sat in their own juices on the bench, kept in serving condition through a mix of Stop and Fire magic, Namine's night classes had instructed a vast population on the theory and usage of magic, the results of which were being applied across the islands with incredible effect. The chef snorted, checked on the food and a small portion of Crème Brule, and muttered to his subordinate, "Just get them something to drink for now. It's how these things are done, anyway."

The waitress rolled her eyes when his back turned, amused at how the addition of magic had shifted up so many procedures in the local industries. Not that she had bothered to use it much herself, a poorly calibrated thunder spell destroying a cellphone instead of recharging it had that effect on people. She brushed out of the doors to the kitchen, tugging her skirt down and smoothing her shirt, readying her notepad for the selection.

She stopped as she arrived at the table, blinking. _That's right…_ She thought, looking over the expanses of odd hair, _… that kid from my old school is having his birthday today. Stupid Majordomo should have told me about that._

After all, who could forget the spiky brown hair in a loose tuxedo belonging to the prankiest, most oblivious boy on the islands? Sora was a couple of years younger than her when she had still been in school, and the young boy's antics were well known, if not respected. The worst part about them was that Sora usually didn't have the skill, only the ideas. Poor Koizumi from Unmei Archipelago had been persuaded (Or brainwashed) into setting up a weight-crane, towing the Dean's car onto the roof of the gym. And then there was the fiasco involving the Principal, his PA system and a hacked recording of the song titled 'I just love to say Fuck'…

She'd loved them, personally.

There was Kairi in a pretty blue off-the-shoulder dress that reached the floor, the closest thing the island had to a princess figure. While she had her enemies and rivals like everyone else, it was more or less a given that the townsfolk tended to defer to her in little, almost unseen ways. Rights of way, exceptions, discounts, conspiratorial glances before slipping her an imported treat, complete with winks and grins. The fact that she was a naturally sweet and gentle woman only made pampering her easier for her several admirers. While her relationship with Sora had never been the centre of much gossip, she endured most teasing good-naturedly and at times had enough information (Courtesy of Selphie, the biggest mouth and stomach combo on the island) to make a quick comeback on the would-be-tormentor's own love life.

She grumbled a little internally as she waited for the seven people at the table to stop bickering/joking/yawning/shoving straws up their noses, thinking that she'd have to try and get back into contact with the younger students, what with all her friends away at universities with different break periods. Her eyes shifted to the chair to the left of Sora's, trying not to whistle under her breath.

_Helloooooo there._

Silver hair? Check. Long, drool-worthy gaze with a set of fine features and well-filled torso? Check. Mysterious and tragic past? Check. Rapeable? Check. Riku's position as the hottest piece of ass on the bench had never been rescinded since he had arrived at her high school, not once. In a two-piece tuxedo, he exuded 'Please jump my bones' in such quantities that they wrote themselves in the air in big, pink lettering.

_Two years younger, barely legal. Two years younger, barely legal. Two years younger…_The words repeated themselves in her head like a mantra in her head as she failed to remember anything apart from the young man smirking his way through class. Surprisingly, he was only an average student, his natural intelligence rather dampened by his ennui and lack of motivation. She had never seen his parents, very few had, and his most recent guardian was just as reclusive. Gulping, she tried to remember something about the other three, quieter than the rest, who sat at the table.

Roxas and Namine, their clothing formal but undistinguishing, sat side by side. They almost seemed to be huddling, the way their arms were drawn in close to their sides and their entire postures seemed to fold them in half, crumbling them further into themselves like a sheet of paper. She knew very little about them, although there wasn't anyone over the age of six who didn't attend Namine's 'Courses for the Mundane Utilization of Magical Essence' at least once a week. Normally, she was a fairly strict teacher, even if her timid voice had the classroom filled with 'Wut wuz dat she sed?' on occasion. Roxas was even more of a mystery, seen at the side of the blackboard, scanning the crowd for anyone causing more racket than necessary… even if they were dead silent and just so happened to try and peek up Namine's dress when she leaned up to write something down with chalk. The doctors loved him, if only because the treatment for extensive bruising had risen in price by twenty gil.

That left the last man. She didn't know him. He had a brown ponytail, a scruffy suit, strange grey eyes and chewed on a toothpick. Medium build, dimpled chin, looked about mid-twenties and spoke like some gruff old bastard. That was it.

"Are we ready to order?" She cleared her throat, pen at the ready when the hubbub died down, indicating that she had been noted. "Drinks, that is." She corrected herself as a frown creased the older man's brow. So he had been the one to order the meals.

"You have any Piña Coladas?" Sora asked, blue eyes wide with anticipation, "I heard about them in a song and I really like Pineapple and Coconut so I figured-"

"She wants your order, not a philosophical rendering." Riku sighed, his hand propped lazily in the air and waving a finger around in circles, "I'll have the drink you think is best for me."

"Martini?" The waitress blurted out, before the famous Rikusmirk heaved into view. "Actually, I was hoping you could offer me a slippery nipple…" He drawled, missing Kairi's facepalm and the subtle narrowing of the Waitress' eyes.

"One Piña Colada…" She spoke, a trite coldly at being hit on, even if the said hitter-oner was a dreamboat, "… and one fuzzy navel."

"Nasty." The oldest man whispered as the slighted boy gave a choking sound, "You're not even going to ask for ID?"

"Your license is on the tip tray, so we're putting the responsibility on you." She pointed to the silver plater that held the jugs of water. The man grunted and pulled out his wallet, replacing his proof of age with a credit card. "There. I'll have a Virgin Mary. Kids need to be got to the right place alive, or I don't get my return."

"Riiight." She hummed to herself, taking down the order. "You three?" She spoke to the redhead and two blondes, who had just finished with the drinks menu.

"Ai Vossler, Burning Reddas and Circling B'nargen." Namine spoke for the three, casting a dirty look at Kairi as she used the opportunity to explain the jokes behind one of the names, in particular because a chilli pepper was used in that drink. "How many are we allowed?"

"As many as you can afford." She cast a pointed look at the Credit card, then the unknown man in old clothes, who scowled back with an indignant "Wadaya mean, _as I can afford_?"

"We'll serve the meals out with your drinks, don't worry about it." She hummed happily back with the orders, glad that there wasn't much work left to be done after this. The reservations couldn't have been set closer to closing time if they'd tried.

(=========)

"Ooooh, Kairi, you gotta try the chicken, it's a sizzling piece of BAM!" Sora grinned, miming Razel's -'Some famous cook, I think…' were the words most used to identify this hitherto unknown figure- pistol fingers up till an irritated Roxas reached over the table and twisted them backwards.

"Ow!"

"Kids, settle down." The older man grumbled, fumbling with his chopsticks in order to grab a stubborn fried dumpling and dip it in the sauce.

"He started it!" Roxas and Sora pointed at each other, oblivious to the irritated gazes of the other patrons. Kairi moved quick, plucking a single hair from the back of Sora's head and directing his squeaky attention elsewhere.

"So, Sora…" She started up, trying not to laugh as he searched for his ambusher, "… what was that about the chicken?"

"Hmm?" Sora turned his head, "Oh, right, I dunno what the chef did but it's really tender, the texture's incredible, and-" At this point, Kairi leaned a little over him to espy the mentioned meal. Sora found his normal gastronomic fascination rapidly losing ground to the strapless top on Kairi's dress.

"-and would you get a load of that breast…"

"Sora, this is a thigh portion." Kairi straightened up, leading Sora to quickly regain eye contact before she realized anything was amiss. "R-really? Oh, right, I guess I must have… uh… never mind. Would you like some?"

"I don't like chicken."

"Ah, yeah, of course. Right. Silly of me to mistake it. Yeah. Thigh. Not Breast. Yeah."

By now, the entire table had paused mid-bite to alternatively smirk, grin, blush in embarrassment or grumble about how while they were in a room, they weren't _in a room_ as per se.

"Dinner and a Show, sweet." Roxas smiled, thanking the waitress as she provided him with his second cocktail of the night. "I don't know how I would've survived if we hadn't brought you along, Sora."

"What kind of friends would we be if we didn't invite a man to his own birthday party?" Riku pointed out, his pink drink still untouched after five minutes. He glared at it, wishing painful death on the evidence of his shame. "Besides that, Sora's paying."

"No, Kairi's father offered to pay." Namine reminded him, until said mayor's daughter came in with her two cents. "Dad said he'd call in a favour and have a friend pay it."

"Ah, so that's why Feni was upset last week." The older man said through a mouthful of cabbage and pork filling, "Silly woman said she'd find some poor chump to foot the entire thing. Trust me, sis has a tendency to just grab whoever's cash is closest and pay… through… her…"

His face fell, "Shit, the poor chump's me, isn't it." He directed the question at Riku, chewing angrily.

"Yeah, pretty much. She stole your Gummy Express card, too. And your Transit miles. And your airship coupons. And your porn stash. And your-"

"That's enough, kid. We get the drift: My name is Naba and my sister cheats me out of anything with monetary value or a vagina." Naba intervened before the silver-haired youth divulged any information further than his illicit series of erotica. However, Riku had only just opened the can of worms.

"So that's where Sora got it from…" Roxas mumbled to himself, dramatically slapping his hands over his mouth when he realized that Kairi was daintily holding a very _sharp_ knife, smiling a too-sweet smile and asking "What was that, Roxas?"

Sora looked like he wanted to run away. Or kill Roxas. Or kill himself. In fact, that large bowl of rosewater looked curiously inviting…

"N-n-n-n-n-n-n…" Roxas stuttered and a small extension of Kairi's arm brought the knife's tip to rest against his bobbing Adams Apple.

"You wouldn't lie to Namine, and by that extension, _me_, would you?" She purred, leaving the boys confident that they wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight for the nightmares. "Do you know what I think I'll do if you don't spill the beans?"

"N-n-n-n-n-n-n…"

Kairi's voice was a whisper at that point, "I'll come into your room at night, and when you're asleep, I'll use this knife and cut off-"

"Okay! Fine! Feni gave it to him as an early birthday present and he keeps it under his mattress and he _giggles_ while he reads it, okay?!" Roxas hissed, prompting incredulous looks from the other members and one very betrayed-looking Sora.

"Sora reads porn?" Namine questioned.

"Sora reads _my_ porn?!" Naba gasped, "That stuff's a bit…"

"Sora, as a friend, I have to ask you. In the future, when you decide to stop acting like an idiot and marry some poor unfortunate woman, are you going to want to have kids?" Kairi trilled, facial features blissfully peaceful.

"Huh?" Sora jolted out of his terrorized paralysis and gave it some actual thought, forlornly wishing that Kairi had just changed the subject because she was too sweet to continue down that embarrassing line. "Y-yeah, I guess so. I totally want kids."

Kairi brandished the knife with a twirl. "Too bad."

The restaurant doors to the outside opened, and all hell broke loose. Sora, glad to be given a distraction, turned and greeted the rowdy trio that had ambled up and scared the Maitre D.

"Dolur, Alex, Dyme! About freaking time!"

Behind him, Namine and Riku noted Kairi's twitching eye, and shared a look.

_Dead man walking. _

--

_… That fondness had dulled the edges of my tools. Strange, strange creatures, these humans are._


	3. The Eyes Recollect

_Well, this is my version of the nobodification, judge it as you will. I modeled their responses on normal humans: Panicy and such. They weren't heros, they wern't supermen, they just died under an onslaught of shadows._

_So enjoy, and BEGIN!_

* * *

Dyme had changed. So had the others. 

Originally, Dyme Vagge was a young artist born into a wealthy family-clan with his older brother, Dolur. Their unfortunate names came from the tradition of their Grandfather naming them, who happened to be a schoolmate for someone (Or something) named Scrooge McDuck.

Dyme had already been known to Clan Sfondi as something of a Maverick, wearing his golden-chocolate hair long in a ponytail that ended in a Jade stud. His brother was more of a conformist, with a slick business suit and his trademark earring of the Jack of Hearts he cut a swathe into the society; strutting with arrogant pride into the open door of the Hearts of Women.

Dolur, unfortunately, was also making his living through the gambling community. His outcast status when the family found out was too much for Dyme to handle, so the two went renegade through the old transit system in Keva'dan, hoping to reach the port metropolis of Sugen and secure a boat to the outsider colonies…. Or even catch a plane to the capital, Vivavio. They'd met a man who was on the run for a crime he didn't commit. His cousin Reno had smuggled him through a fire-door, hoping that he could distract the guards surrounding his room long enough to make his escape.

Alex, he called himself, and he agreed to abide by them and journey to the colonies.

And then the Heartless came.

The boat was overwhelmed and capsized in the hour, no survivors or wreckage were ever recovered.

They all claimed that they didn't have strong memories of the time, past the screaming and the blood slicking the deck. Dyme had been in his room, sketching out his 'Dream Sitar, baby!' and Dulor was asleep on the bunk with a reassuringly large lump in his crotchy regions.

The money bag was kept in his pocket, please don't make this sound any dodgier.

The next thing, they were on the deck heading towards the cries of the dying and wounded. As they watched, a child; too young to determine its sex, was skewered through by a black shadow with antennae… and it _grinned_. As it slid its claws further through the child, it seemed to have a simple smile, a line in the face, as the child shuddered, whimpered "Ma-?" and was still.

Moments later, a Valentine heart emerged from the corpse and floated into the air before a dark mist coated it. The youngster had been consumed by the mist itself, and disappeared.

"Oh hell…! Oh fucking hell!" Dyme cried and turned to retch over the railing. Dulor backed away slowly from the abomination, gripping his brother's back and trying to pull him away.

"Dyme, come on! It's looking at us, dipshit! We gotta move!!" he whimpered as he dragged him from the railing.

Another Heartless, drawn by the terror of the siblings, writhed from the ground in a black flurry and wrapped its limbs around Dulor's throat, constricting ever tighter as he thrashed around, urging Dyme to run.

"Oi! Get your fucking hands off my brother!" Dyme yelled, barrelling into Dulor and the Heartless in his rage, pushing them both through the railing and into a calm, warm ocean

Dyme could remember a boiling, twisting melee in the water, a sense of…

_Heaviness: like there was something light, something pure that was leaving him…_

_Pain: a shift, a separation that was unnatural in every sense of the word, and of…_

_Distance: Like he was moving somewhere very fast, while not budging an inch…_

_Peace_.

Dolur, unfortunately, saw his brother get impaled through the back of the head; bone, blood, gray strands of brain mixed into the deep and filled his vision.

The Heartless then resumed its deadly assault and by the time Dulore had sucumbed to the effects of breathing water, he had lost most of the flesh over his chest and an arm. His heart pumped fitfully through his gaping ribs, pulsing blood through the wounds once, twice, and was still.

Alex had been backed into the engine room during the commotion, pulling open a red-hot hatch to blast steam into the face of a shadowy angel as his fingers smoked and melted.

The steam had no effect on the creature, Alex was skewered instantly.

For the longest time, they slept. It felt like sleep...

... "Nnnn.. Dulor?"

They awoke.

That was their first memory as Nobodies. The dull throb in their chests, the feeling of cotton wool clogging the trains of thought… The voices...

"Hey, Xaldin! Check these guys out!"

* * *

Right! The Organization (In my head) can detect the emergence of new Humanoid nobodies, how else would they have found Roxas? Now, leave reviews if you find something to point out, or just want to leave an opinion. And hooray! Spring is almost here! I can feel the air warming up, N.Z SUCKS IN WINTER! Freezes your gonads to your boxers, it will! 


	4. The Ears receive

_Roightieo, there's not much to say about this chapter. Read on!_

* * *

"…And then he said, 'Hey buddy, my airship was here first!'" 

"Damn straight! Total engine envy!"

The table laughed, the joke wasn't particularly fine, but the drink had been flowing and the meals had been good (As well as informative; Riku discovered for the very first time that he was allergic to peanuts and spent the first half of the evening resembling Harold the Horfing Hamster Huffer).

"What freaking world was that on?" Sora smirked at the brothers.

"Aih dunno, eh?" Dulor slurred with his eyes slightly unfocused. "I reckon it was when cousin Johnny asked me to help him setting up with his flyin' orphanarium or whatever it was."

"I remember that!" Dyme piped up, "Me and Alex were taking in the streets of Madrid and this French ning-nong asked me if I had heard any rumours of the 'Jellyfish pirates'. The-"

"Hang on, what French guy?" Alex chimed in, "I'm pretty sure the only guy we ever talked to was that Aussie Dancer who twitched heaps".

"It was that teacup-collecting dork, remember? The one with the Roxas-y hair and the really heavy uniform?"

"Not ringing a bell here…"

"He told you to 'convert to the church of the holy' and that you were gonna 'burn in hell with Mr Badguy', yeah?"

Alex guffawed and slapped the air, hitting the table by accident. Already he had knocked over two glasses and the salt shaker; people had been slowly edging away from his destructive limbs as the night went on. "That's it! And I asked him if he'd like to meet our cousin Johnny and eksplain the benephits of puremarital shelibacy and… Uh…" he continued, his grip on solid syllables loosening.

"Turned out Johnny was the guy he was on a search for, anyway. Something about grand theft, Jailbreaking, harbouring fugitives, child molestation…"

Naba sprayed grape juice across the table, drenching Axel with vegetable blood and hacking, "What, Johnny?" he coughed, dripping from the mouth and grabbing a napkin to wipe his chin.

"So he said, didn't believe him, though. I mean, he's _Johnny_!" Dyme moaned.

"Yeah. In any case, we've been kinda monopolisssssssing the conversation a bit. So friends…" Alex climbed to his feet holding his glass up high, "…and Dolur" he added cheekily as he prepared to recite.

"Thanks, 'lex."

"Anytime. Now, friends again! We have gathered on this final day to attend upon young Sora, who-"

"Get on with it!" Naba rumbled.

"Fine. Sora; you're 16, yay, very nice and stuff, you want to say anything before we hit Naba's place and get absolutely hammered?" Alex continued, sounding peeved.

"That was the finest speech I've ever made!" he whinged.

"And you summed it up in five seconds, nice work!" Riku cried, nearly tipping his chair over in mirth.

"Speech! SPEECH!!" Roxas yelled at the Birthday boy.

Sora pushed his seat back, struck a pose, opened his mouth and said absolutely nothing.

"I can't remember what I was gonna say!" His face full of remorse.

"On a lighter note, let's puke till we drink!" He added, getting a cheer from the table and a raised eyebrow from Naba.

"Maybe I should spread a tarp for the living room?" He smiled to himself, replacing his toothpick and tapping his glass with a spoon for the bill.

* * *

It's getting really hard to be a guy called Nabaios tonight! Why me?! 

"Whadaya mean we can't come?!"

Dyme was throwing a tantrum, with Dolur and Alex cursing bloody murder in a melody of damn-fool headedness. The kids were already in the Van after a quarter turn of dicking around, and these now little shites think they can come and crash the party?

Hell No!

"You-can't-come. End of story" I glare at him, tapping his head with every syllable and slamming the door to the passenger's seat. Still, the brat was pouting again. I _hate_ pouting! "I'm not trusting you bunch near those kids, a'right? It'll be hard enough getting 'em to sleep in the lounge without you guys dropping innuendoes left, right, hook and fish! Fuck off!"

Dolur was looking pissed, no pun intended. That fucktard! He was actually looking forward to the girls!

Course, it could just be the fact that he wanted to be there for the being there. Still, like I said, I ain't takin' chances.

"Fine, you can come morningside if you really want free gutliner. I'll even throw in a couple-a numbers, eh? You're gonna have to work for 'em, though, so no whining."

"Nelera 'uld kill me…" Alex muttered. He looked like crap, hell; I could help him out a little. Guy'd had a drinking problem ever since he joined his heart, guess pity is in order.

"'Lex, a guy like you shouldn't be out partying. Grab a cab, have a shower, make love to your woman, things'll turn out better in the morning." I pulled out my cash card, searing the pin on the dinner receipt and handing both to the solemn pyro. "No-one should be alone, not tonight of all nights." I grinned, as I glanced at Kairi dozing on Sora's shoulders in the backseat.

"As for you two, walk home and grab a bed for the night." I turned on them, my eyes narrowed. "Walk to the nightclubs if your balls are busting. Run if they're bad. But keep away from the kids tonight. I know you two are awesome and all, but alcohol really fucks it up sometimes. Be seeing you." I called, climbing into the driver's seat.

They sulked as I drove away, Axel muttering directions into his cellphone and oblivious to the hush as the brothers slumped their shoulders.

Finally, he closed the phone.

"Where'd everyone go?" he queried the cooling night air.

The brothers were silent, and Alex took to pacing around the sidewalks, trying to convince himself that he wouldn't fall off if he walked the edge of the kerb.

The atmosphere changed slightly, as the occasional _twang_ of a sitar string (Gods knew where he pulled it from) and the _flipflipflipflipflap_ of a card rush penetrated his ears.

"Fancy a round?" Dolur grinned, holding a deck in his hand.

"What's the game?"

"Strip poker" He laughed. "Nah, I'm joking. Remember the tricks we'd play with these?"

"You mean how you stuck one to the underside of Vexen's lab table and set the room on fire?!" Axel smirked, recalling the Nobody screaming that his 'research papers' (Or porn, as the other Nobodies knew it by) had all been consumed in the blazing mess and requiring a sedative (Or concussion) courtesy of Lexeaus before he calmed down. It _had_ been fun, waiting till the scientist had left for a coffee break, and then he and the other neophytes had snuck through the impromptu portal and… well… broke stuff.

"Hells yes!" Luxord chuckled. Those days had seemed so driven…

"Yeah"

"Yeah".

Each lost in their thoughts; they turned to watch the stars.

"How's Larx- Nelera doing?" Dyme called, catching himself from the name. _Like we were still in the castle, chatting round the table… brothers in arms..._

"Fine."

……….

"Hey, little D, sing us something". Dolur spoke softly, not wishing to break the peace of the night as the lights in the restaurant went out.

Dyme strummed his Sitar, paused, and launched into a quiet ballad:

_'When did we walk, to these shallow waters cold?_

_Minds growing dim with bodies growing old,_

_Yet still we travel, bound by bonds of hope,_

_By the last of the daylight, for our sun has just eloped._

_Trekking in the moonlight, by riverbed and well,_

_The broken shells of heaven, with memories from hell,_

_Destiny's upon us, to cleanse us of our sins,_

_We march to live again, and join back with our kin._

_We are the heartless, the enviers and the dead,_

_Our fingers are full bloodstained, oozing and red._

_And now we march by water, to guide us on our path,_

_Praying for grace divine, to be spared from godly wrath._

_Yet 'ere the dawn has risen, we yearn for ourselves,_

_To journey back, and live again, with hearts in proper delves._

_The story has not ended; but I cannot tarry long,_

_For here, in the twilight, the husks march e'er on...'_

The sounds of the night returned to the ears of the listeners.

"That was really nice" a female voice whispered from the shadows.

"I taught him all he knows" Dulor replied smugly, he had heard her approach over the gravel path from the kitchen. "If you desire, dear lady, I could teach you to sing with equal ability. You heading home?"

"Sure.." She blushed, uncertain. Stepping forward, Dolur recognised her as the waitress from before, he'd caught her staring before, and the night had turned out rather fun with a beautiful woman to flirt with...

"Well then, I shall take all liberties to be your escort tonight, no refusals!" He laughed as the two began to walk the road to the residential district.

_Dibs_, he mouthed at Dyme.

_Sonuvabitch!_ Was the only forthcoming reply.

* * *

Problem! I've kinda come up with writers block! If anyone would like to co-author, or want to drop a few ideas, send me an email at and I'll talk it over with you. Review, and let my reap my sorro- knowledge! Thing. Whatever. 


	5. The Skin Responds

_'Ello 'ello 'ello, whats all this then?_

_First of all, thanks to Lady Sorina for the advice. I've cut down on the quotation marks. It actually does have a better readability. Cheers! Secondly, I'm still in the middle of a writers block. If you want your own OC to make an appearance (And I promise to read up the stories that include them to better portray the character.) or have any suggestions, send me a shout._

_Minor warning, there's a little graphic stuff in the lower half. If you ain't old enough for such things, back out. Now. It ain't much, but it's enough to get me blammed over._

_Good day to youse all._

* * *

Riku was thinking. 

He had to; he was the responsible one. The one who lived in the present and never, ever, said anything that scared his friends. He had to support them, let them know that the way to dawn was only found after the darkest of nights, nights that sent all the terrors from brooding forests and deep lakes to devour you and make you into a crazed recluse.

_Nights like this one…_

Kairi and Sora were asleep in the back. It was only nine in the evening, but already Kairi was leaning her head on her paramour's shoulder, snuggling in closer every time the van hit a bump on the road and jolted her out of position. Sora just snored slightly, a dopey expression masking all that he had experienced since he had returned home.

Namine and Roxas were awake in the middle seat, just. Holding hands and murmuring half-whispered sentences to each other, they looked like they could have died in a saccharine embrace. Riku's face burned when he thought of how he himself had desired Namine. Craved her innocent, porcelain features and her smooth, shapely legs. Longed for her soothing voice to sigh sweet nothings in his ear while he lay awake under the star-strewn sky in the crossroad fields… Telling himself that one day, he'd go back, go back to her and say… something. _Anything!_

Riku was lonely. He never let on how he had grown jealous of his friends, envied Sora for his Naïve strength, envied Kairi for her purity, envied Namine for her raw power over his mind, envied Roxas for his skill with his blades.

But he felt that he… needed completion. More than anything.

Sure, they looked up to him in a way, but-

"HOLY SHIT!!"

The van pitched off the road, skidded over the damp earth and slammed into a young oak, uprooting it. A faint blue globe fizzled around the vehicle and cushioned the blow, but could not prevent the huge dent in the driver's side. The shield had failed, and the van rocked back upright.

Apart from the _pings_ emanating from the cooling engine and the faint tinkling of glass, silence returned.

Except…

Except it hadn't, faint swishing could be heard in the air. White forms twisted and snaked towards the crash, landing in a ring around the van and hoping from place to place, leaving a circle thrice its length in diameter. The unspoken commands came then; all of the husks paused and turned towards the elder nobody in the middle of the road, wielding a cursed claymore…

_Sharpen your knives!!_

The arms of the Dusks twisted into blades, razor-sharp and long, slowly advanced on the stricken transport, edging with long sweeps of their pseudo legs…

"Guys? You okay?" Riku called from the front. Naba had been knocked unconscious by the crash and the exertion of raising the shield, he couldn't be relied on here.

"Roxas broke something!" Namine cried, and indeed, his arm was bent strangely from the elbow joint. His face was a rictus of pain.

"What happened?" mumbled Sora from the back, Kairi was healing the cuts on his forehead from where his window burst with pieces of glass from the impact. His eyes were unfocused and he had already summoned the Ultima weapon, only to have it fall out of his hands as he slipped into the nothingness of the concussed.

"Take a look outside". Riku looked grim as the Dusks continued to advance, arms poised and mouths bared from their unzipped lips.

_Only one chance to live through this._

"Kairi, grab his keyblade. We can cut through them if we synch our attacks. Aim for the Berserker if you get the chance!" he ordered, trying to beckon his own weapon into the cramped space.

"Gotcha. Namine, can you keep the van safe?" Kairi called from the back.

"Is Hayner a rube?" she giggled back hysterically. Namine had been an avid student of magic ever since she had escaped from Castle Oblivion. She turned to Roxas, her hands glowed green as his arm snapped back into place of its own accord. He screamed like an animal, and his face turned pale. His breathing grew funny and he gripped her hand like a man possessed, whimpering all the while .

"Shushshushshushshushshush, its fine, you're fine." She held her hand to his forehead and as he sat there, his eyes clenched shut in agony.

"Go." She turned her head to Riku, then Kairi.

"Right, Kairi, on my mark…."

* * *

The berserker watched from the road, absentmindedly pawing at the grip its other hand had on the sword. It never let go, but it couldn't hurt to try, right? 

It watched with, if it had a heart, it would have called satisfaction. Even with its master gone, it knew that to slay the shadows more shells would be needed. Every creature it killed gave all husks one more step on the road to reunion.

It watched the van explode from the left side, nearly tipping over from the kickback. It watched as its minions fell, one by one, to the forms that had rushed from the carnage, to the keys that ripped them asunder like so much air.

Watched the man linking arms with the girl, he sending dark fireballs into the ranks of the Dusks with his free hand, she using the circular momentum to draw a silver loop with hers, exploding with a furious light that consumed many more. All the while, its minions tried to cut into the van, only to be repelled with great force by a translucent sphere.

_They are strong; it will be good to have that strength!_

_Strike them down with all your might! KILL THEM!!_

The dusks redoubled their assault, claws shredding clothing and tearing skin as they swiped past. Kairi had tripped under the weight of the attack and her own dress; she called great streams of thunder from the sky, incinerating the creatures again and again in her desperation.

But there were still more of them. And she was losing focus.

Riku was helpless to aid her, the shield that Namine had erected was fading as a swarm of Dusks carved at it relentlessly, eager to sample the blood of a still-beating heart. They shrieked, screaming a melody of triumph, the knowledge of a feast forthcoming. He could feel their ecstasy, could taste the blood himself….

And lost himself in the darkness.

It was… bizarre, for him. Donald and Goofy (He smiled inwardly, they were insane!) had spoken of times when Sora would _absorb_ them, taking their essence into his and becoming a champion at certain fighting styles: Valorous, Wise, Masterly, even Omnipotent. He had seen the latter himself in the final battle against Xemnas, had marvelled at the fluid way his keyblades had orbited him, had laughed as he grinned through the pain of his injuries.

But there was another side to this. Donald remarked that in his last scrap with Demyx, Sora had… tried things differently.

He let himself join the essences, and formed a new body with it. And it wasn't pretty.

Demyx had died with boiling claws ripping open his throat, his blood pulsing through the artery in a crimson shower; his white and knobbly windpipe scratched and exposed through the gaping wound that the Anti-form had left him with. A shadow and king of shadows had dealt his end.

And Riku laughed as he felt the strength coursing through him, laughed as the Dusks all charged at him, their previous tasks forgotten. Laughed as he slipped through time, set shards of solid darkness into the white ones, and obliterated the Berserker in a lucid whirlwind of malice.

As his shaded form gasped for air, his body hunched over… He smiled. _This is what I need! _

In less then a heartbeat, the ambush had been obliterated.

He turned back to the van, twitching with every step, and halted. Namine was looking at him through the window, eyes wide in terror.

_Take her_.

He shook his head, he had felt the urge, seen the images of her sweating and naked and crying his name as he thrust ever-harder into her. Saw the images of her sitting on his lap, lips wrapped around his in a dance of lust, tongues just hinting at what was to follow. Saw her kneeling before him, ready to accept his manhood into her mouth.

He cried aloud to the night and held his hands over his ears. Tears flowing from sinister eyes as he fell to his knees.

_She is yours my right of strength, by right of conquest! TAKE HER!!_

_This isn't what I want, this isn't what I want!_ He yelled in the confines of his head.

_Yet night after night, you pleasure yourself with her face behind your eyes… You want her!_

_Not like this, not like this! _He repeated, heaving great sobs that shook his entire body.

_Take her by force! Rape her! She is yours; she must bend to your will!!_

"NO!!" He bellowed to the sky. His head cleared, and the darkness faded from him. But he could feel its taint, a slime oozing through his defences of will and corrupting him.

_I'm… I'm a monster_.

The van door shuddered as Namine pushed against it, until the hinges broke and it fell to the ground.

"Riku!" She cried, watching him crawl towards her, tears flowing still. "Are you-?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I nearly did it, I almost…" Riku babbled, flopping onto the door and gasping for breath.

"Riku, Kairi's hurt!"

"I can't help, just… give her a potion. I can't help"

Namine looked at him with fear, listening to the man she'd always thought would never lose his nerve.

"Riku, I'm going to set up a cottage, can you get yourself inside?" she queried him, reaching into the emergency compartment in the van's roof and withdrawing a luminous cube.

"Whatever… Just… give me a moment." He breathed.

As he watched her place the cube and watched it expand into an abode, he could only feel a deep, welling sadness as the thought overtook him.

_I'm emptier now than I ever was._

_

* * *

Whadayaknow, Riku's a closet emo! Bleh, I'm joking. But somehow I thought that Naba's comment on nobody being alone that night and being crammed into a van of couples would kind of get him like that. Now, comment if you wanna, but make sure its presentable. I'll have a new chapter up by Sunday. Ciao! _


	6. The Mouth Recants

_Oof, EIT is a bummer in the yaoi sense, in the 'yamete, ozu ga itai!' sense..._

_So here it is, a day late. Sorry folks!_

_I'm still trying to wean off the OC, can't you tell? No? Bugger ya!_

* * *

---NO CONNECTION--- 

"Fucking useless piece of crap!" Riku roared, tossing the cellphone against the wall.

Time had happened, and not much else.

After the cottage had grown, absorbing the local elements until it resembled a Clay-brick house with a Spartan interior, Namine and Riku had to deal with the fact that all three of their friends were wounded or unconscious, as Naba had wandered out of the van and was too dizzy to assist. Namine had finally come up with the idea to balance each of the invalids in altered Gravity spells, more or less levitating them through the doorway, laying Kairi on the table and delivering Sora and Roxas into the bunks that had emerged from the sides of the magical abode.

"Take a chill pill, kid. We're so far out of coverage that you'd need to be fluent in Heartless to ask for directions." Naba muttered. His head was bandaged and his hands were shaking. Namine had already gone to bed, leaving the recently revived Caretaker to keep an eye on Sora, Roxas and Kairi's Vitals, should there be complications. A transparent square hung above their heads, magically sustained and giving information on Heart rates and breathing.

---PLEASE HOLD, SEARCHING FOR GPS ROUTER---

"I don't believe this! On the one night it matters!" Riku moaned, holding his head in his right hand and banging the table with another.

"There will be other nights, and the rest of the gang will be waiting. Feni's taking care of 'em." came the reply. Naba watched Riku, hands steeped, occasionally looking over at his charges as they slept. He could sense a change in him, a sudden anger, though whether at himself or something else, he could not tell.

Riku simply got up, not bothering to answer, and paced around the table. Staring out the barred windows, aching for something, _anything_, to break the silence and let him vent his fury. His thoughts turned to Sora, how his parents would be going mad with worry when the phone rung to tell them that their son hadn't shown up, that no-one had shown up…

As for the 'gang', they probably wouldn't be kept waiting all night. Naba's little sister, Feni, was probably one of the most distracting people Riku had ever met, she seemed to pour out rivers of stories, anecdotes, tales and ballads that wouldn't have been out of place in a strip bar. _And she never, ever, did anything so crass as to stop for breath!_ Riku grinned inside at the thought.

She'd be driving the music volume so hard the house would shake, and would be plying Hayner, Ollete, Pence, Tidus, Lulu and the rest of them besides with drink, always holding fast that it was "Only till they get here!" and watching the ensuing chaos eagerly.

She was the absolute contrary to her brother, and Riku doubted that she knew the fact that the hilarity of her stories was only realised due to Naba rolling his eyes and performing other acts of disbelief behind her back.

---SEARCHING---

Riku thumped the wall, wondering what was urging him to damage things. He felt a hunger kindle after his transformation, a desire to see those around him cowering with fear… It scared him.

_And deep within, something revels in those feelings, don't they?_

"What's up?" Naba called in response to Riku's gasp.

"Stomach." Riku mumbled, not turning to face him.

"Heh, you know what I think?" Naba grinned, teeth showing with mischief. "I think you're just pissed that you missed something today!".

Riku looked at him, startled that someone could still be optimistic after all that had happened. "Maybe". He muttered.

"It's a giiiiiirl!" Naba laughed. "Riku's shacking up with a chiiiiick!" He got up, prancing around with a moronic smile on his face, "Riku missed out on tonight's aaaaaaaction!" he sung, dancing around Riku, who couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. He finally stopped after Namine started to toss in the bunk, disturbed by the noise.

Sitting on the table, Naba directed a full-force _Tell big brother_ smile in Riku's direction. "So, who is she?"

Riku faced away, his pale cheeks beginning to shine crimson.

"I can't say." He finally uttered, and cursed himself for his stubbornness.

---SEARCHING---

"Chicken!" Naba chuckled, leaning over to mess up Riku's silver hair.

Riku remained silent.

"Buckbuckbuckkaw!" Naba clucked, pumping his shoulders in an avian motion. Riku simply sent him a killer glare.

"Awww… You suck!" Naba finished, folding his arms and smirking at him. He got up and punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Seriously, if this is you being pissed cause I didn't see that thing on the road, I'm sorry, A'right?" He paused, confused. Then he brightened up again, "It's not exactly to my liking either, I still have to pay off the loan on those wheels!"

"You really don't have a clue, do you?" Riku spoke softly, but there was a hostile tone underlying his words.

"You're not helping that by clamming up, kid. Can you blame me?" Naba growled; all pretence of humour gone from his voice. In a lightning movement, he grabbed Riku's collar and hauled him to his feet. "Now, no more games, I saw that horde of husks before the shield failed. I know you couldn't have taken them all out by yourself, no matter what Namine says. What the hell is going on here?!" he snarled at Riku.

Riku remained silent, simply shifting his stance so that his right arm was free to move, his legs ready to spring, his hands moving subtly in a summoning ritual.

"I'm asking you, what the hell-"

Riku leapt, pushing Naba over the table and holding his forearms down, locking them in place with a quick spell of binding. Naba's yell of surprise was cut short by the feel of cold metal pressing against his throat.

_So fast_…

"I-am-not-in-the-mood!" Riku hissed at him, pressing every point home with a push of his keyblade, eventually drawing blood from the exposed neck. His eyes were pinpricked, and his arms angled the key-shaped-weapon further downwards, causing the blade to bite deeper into Naba's skin, forcing yet more of the cerise fluid to ooze from the cut, the irony stench hitting Riku's senses like a 12-Ton bowling ball.

_Kill him!_

The voice was almost irresistible, and Riku might have actually ripped open the man's jugular, had not a wave of force pitched the table over and slammed him into the wall.

It was Sora, and his keyblade appeared in his hands as he left over the toppled furniture, ignoring the queries of a waking Namine, and held the point of his weapon between Riku's unbelieving eyes.

"Naba's got a point, you've got some explaining to do." Sora said, a distasteful grimace contorting his usually cheerful countenance.

"While you're at it, can you get me out from under here?" Naba grumbled from under the table.

---UNABLE TO CONTACT ORBITAL COMMUNICATIONS RELAYS---

…

…

…

---SIGNAL RELAY DETECTED. COMMENCING POINT CONNECTION---

* * *

_Roight, Riku's in the doghouse and the kids are in trouble. I'm trying to think of a little love to send his way, so I'm thinking a pairing of Riku with Yuffie, or even Quistis. Maybe even Feni, if I can flesh her out enough. So leave your reviews and kick back!_


	7. Link to the past

_Sorry 'bout the delay, my Firewall at home won't let me use the bloody uploader... Seethes Anyway, this has a little Selphie/Irvine smut in it, even though I havn't played much FF8, I think I've got their personalities down pat._

_And now there are two, count 'em, TWO flashbacks. I'm sorry! You be the judge to see if they improve the story. I've had crap-all reviews (But the ones I have had are awesome.) so I have no idea whether I'm doing well or not. You decide! Now begin!_

* * *

Selphie paced the cold marble in the entrance hall, oblivious to the sounds of merriment coming from the ballroom and the giggles, shuffling and occasional moan she could make out from the solar to her right (Tidus had been quick to take to the drink, and had been spending the night directing his attention towards a young Uni student by the name of Quistis...). Her bouncing locks had refused to be straightened at home and hung at her neck, drooping as if they shared their owner's mood while in no way improving it.

"They're late". Selphie spun, cursing herself for not hearing the large double-doors open behind her. A decidedly gothic girl with long ebony hair that reached her waist softly approached her, fishnet stockings giving brief flashes of the bare flesh of her thighs as she took place beside her, looking expressionlessly out into the long driveway. "They said they would come, this is my last toad, I was saving it for them, and they're late." Something approaching a smile reached her lips, a sight that unnerved Selphie no end.

"What are you talking about, Lu?" the Brunette was frightened, trying to ward her fears away with small talk. Her cheerful face was lined with concern, glancing ever so often down the drive, hoping for the glare of car-light.

Lulu gave her a condescending look. "Pratchett, don't worry about it".

"I'm not. The birthday boy's over an hour late and I'm storing all my worry for him, you reckon we should call the police? None of them are answering their cellphones... I'm not even getting a connection on the personal commspheres." Selphie whined, hopping from foot to foot, finally deciding to lean against the wall.

"They have those?"

"Riku does."

"Maybe they're eloping." Lulu smiled again. _Maybe tonight will have some entertainment for me after all..._

Selphies face froze, absolute terror lit in her eyes as she rushed to Lulu and gripped her shoulders in desperation. "You really think so? Oh my god, oh my GOD, what if they did? We gotta tell everyone, we gotta tell SEED! SHINRA! Where's a landline? _Where's a landline!!_' Selphie rushed around the hall, hyperventilating and generally making a complete ass of herself while Lulu barely controlled her laughter through her sleeve.

Eventually, Selphie gave up her hysterical madness and slumped against the wall, panting hard and still mumbling the names of Investigation and Search agencies in a spastic stream. Her eyes were still wide in shock as Lulu walked up and stated "I was only joking", though for all the notice Selphie took, she might as well have said that she was planning to nuke the house.

"So anyway, what happened? Did you give the cowboy the slip?" Lulu asked, desperate to change the subject before Selphie had a cardiac arrest. The 'cowboy' in question was an exchange student named Irvine who had left Destiny Islands for Garden in his youth, and who Selphie claimed had been stalking her ever since he walked in her flat at the wrong moment, inquiring after his borrowed _Brokeback Mountain _DVD.

Not that Selphie would have normally minded, she and him went back to childhood and had never relinquished to anyone else the title of 'bestie' but each other, before they were evacuated from Hollow Bastion. Their chocolate hair was the source of much grief, if it wasn't Tidus and Wakka snipping his hair short whenever he took a catnap, it was Penelo consistently asking to bleach Selphies white-gold, like hers. They were together so often, exploring the silken flow of the river behind the school during their lunch after Irvine had jimmied the gate lock that seperated the grounds and the plains with Selphie's hairpin, or simply sneaking out at night to go stargazing that their friends nicknamed them 'Sold wine', possibly the worst piece of wordplay to ever come from the little town since 'Jack the Pheasant Plucker'. But she was clothed only in silken undergarments and watching an episode of _Futurama _whilst lying recumbent on the couch with the curtains drawn, and he...

* * *

_He just stood there_. _Watching me. Ogling me. His hand still resting on the doorknob, his eyes tracing my every curve, and when he finally met my gaze... He smiled._

_And so did I. I never figured out why. I reckon I'd just shown him my teeth, scary lioness Selphie! Rawr!!_

_He left, after that. Just closed the door like nothing happened! When I saw him at Statistics the next day, he just smiled and asked after that bastardbastardbastard DVD! That's most of what I could remember then. Small talk. Gossip. The usual. The creep just goes over me like some porn film and doesn't bother to apologise?! I swore, there and then, that I would pour oil in his bed and set it alight! Haha!_

_And then I asked him if he wanted to go to the river... He said yes, we made plans, the same-old same-old. He'd bring Buffalo wings, I'd grab some soda and a chillie bin, we'd meet at the swimming hole at 5pm, Wednesday. _

_And he'd arrived early, that evil-minded little piece of- anyway, I hadn't figured out he was there till I'd heard the splashing and had a peek through a handy willow, hidden from normal sight. He was lying at the top of a metre-tall waterfall, a solid push would have sent him tumbling to the deep pool below. Normally, I would have felt ticked and missing out on such mischief, but something else was drawing my attention._

_Not that he was lying there, damming the flow of water and chuckling at the tickling sensation as it passed over his toned belly with his arms crossed behind his contented head, no, he was gloriously, magnificently..._

_Butt nekkid._

_Or close enough to me that it made no difference. Whenever we went on trips like this, he always, ALWAYS wore a shirt. Said he could catch cold, which I never believed for a second, the guy had always been a little porky since he hit puberty and had a problem dealing with it..._

_But gods, Garden had been good to him, gone were the hints of puppy fat, gone was the scrawny boy I'd remembered... Hello shirtless wonder; hard abs, tight ass and lean muscle, strong and smooth and bulging..._

_She turned away, trying to forget how she had stared at the lump in his togs. For chrissake, they were friends! When they were kids..._

_Except they weren't, everything had changed, he had changed. _

_For the better._

_Well, at least he still wore his hat. She giggled a little, trust that goof to stubbornly submit to the urge of pretending to be a cowboy, even in the water... Every little thing he did revolved around his obsession with the Wild Plains of the Calm Lands, if you looked close enough._

"_Irve! I'm here!" I cried, trembling a little from the effort to move my mouth from its jaw-dropped status. _

"_Holy Mother of-!!" He started, losing balance on the edge and plummeting into the chilly depths of the falls. He came out spluttering, cool composition lost as he began a terrorized search for his trusted hat._

_I laughed at him, he never ceased to make me laugh. I loved that about him, that silly, gawky side of him that always showed through. I set down the chillie by the bank and picked up his leather accessory from the stones, concealed from him by a boulder in the river. "Looking for this?" Waving it over my head, he started to wade over, determined the regain his prized possession. I immediately hid it behind my back, wagging a finger, "Nonononono, where are the wings? No wings, no hat!" _

"_To hell with that!" he yelled, flinging himself forward and trying to reach behind me. "Get off! You're getting me wet!", I hadn't said that so much out of concern for my clothes, the weather was calm, the air was warm and dry, they would have dried in minutes. Nope, it was just that I was a teensy bit uncomfortable about having those abdominals near me._

_So I was both trying to put some distance between us and tease him from the hat, so I couldn't think much about my feet, I tripped, he fell, and we just so happened to land in a rather intimate sprawl, my arm was pinned behind my back, his hands on either side of my breasts, his hard thigh softly pressing between..._

_Oh GOD._

_He so totally planned that!_

_But a look at his face said otherwise, he was grinning at me, eyes thinned in what could possibly be a mask of innocence as he whispered, "Please?"_

_What did he want from me? 'Oh Irvine, you manly studmuffin, take me, take me now!' was NOT going to happen, not now, not ever!_

"_I mean, I really like it." His eyes went to the side a little. I'll bet he does._

"_There's nothing really like it in the world." His cheeks were colouring slightly. Why is he telling me this? Does he think that I'm just going to fuck him because he said it was NICE?!_

"_And you're making it all crumpled and floppy." _

_WHAT?!?_

_My arm was annoying me, I mean, I can't really move the thing, and my hand is all tired from grippin'..._

_Oh, right, the hat. I gotta get my head out of the gutter._

"_You're going to have to get off, Irvy, I can't move."_

_And so he got to his knees, not seeming to notice anything out of the ordinary. I could swear my face was beet-red. Handing him the flattened article with a huff, I got to my feet and brushed off my cargo pants, picking out the sharp wheat-spears that had lodged in my pants._

"_So, where are these wings?"_

"_I'll grab them while you get the soda out. Watch for chiggers!" He joked, I had a phobia over parasites: Ticks, fleas, leeches... They just make me wanna puke._

_Opening the bin and pulling a couple of Chi's out of the bottom, I set them on the ground and took off my cargo's and t-shirt to reveal my one piece swimsuit. Normally I'd have just worn a bikini... But I didn't feel secure about flaunting my form after the incident at the flat._

_Or was I scared? I couldn't tell._

_Something was going to happen today. There was a tension, now, between him and me. And I had no idea of whatever to do. Either way, it was Irvine's move next. _

_Sitting on the bank, tasting the kiwifruit of the Chi and lost in my little game of politics, I took no heed that the bushes behind me had just rustled. _

_And then the tickling began. It was horrible! My sides, my underarms, the small of my back, everywhere! Before I collapsed under the onslaught of nerve-wracking giggle fits, I sprung, rolled, leapt into the water. Figuring that Jerkmeister can't get me there, I splashed to the 'steps', a hollow leading down to waist deep water where I could submerge and hide from his evil fingers. _

_I turned. He was waiting for me at the bank, winking as he opened a container and took a bite out of a wing, face beaming relishment at every chew._

"_You're mean!" I whined._

"_And you're wet and hungry. Not to mention a hat-hater." he laughed, pointing to his ridiculous headgear. "If you're really hungry... Truce?"_

"_Whatever."_

_I approached the bank, when he made no move towards me, I simply lay down and reached for a wing. The slight grease of it was comforting, he'd marinaded it in Satay sauce, said the first morsel that touched my lips. _

_And then the tickles came back! Was nothing holy?_

_I couldn't resist, writhing as the fingers came out of nowhere, laughing uncontrollably. He was above me, around me. I put a hand on his chest and tried to push him back._

_He stopped._

_As soon as I could breathe easily, I took stock of where I was. Pinned under my best friend? Check. Panting from exhilaration? Check. Having my cheek held by aforementioned friend? Che- Wait, what?_

"_You're mean." I said simply, drunk on nervousness. "Mean and cruel and unfair and I don't like you!" _

_His hand left my cheek and began softly stroking my neck, his eyes never once left mine. I shivered from the warmth of his hand, fighting the urge to close my eyes. _

_Still, I had to know._

"_So why are you doing this to me?" I pleaded, tilting my head forward, arcing my body closer to his, running a hand over his broad flank to pull him towards me, smiling inside when he drew back on instinct. Looks like I'm not the only ticklish one..._

"_You really want to know?"_

"_Didn't I just ask?" Our lips were touching now, voices barely whispers in the still air._

"_Well, little miss nosy..." he smiled, placing his other hand under my back, "...I'm thinking it's because I'm in love with you."_

"_Bingo."_

_Nothing more needed to be said, our first kisses were tender, sweet and pure as rain, our hands roaming, touching the other, learning what it was to truly know each other._

_And then the urge took me, parting his lips to show that I wasn't all light and feathers, shifting my right leg to massage his groin, prompting a low groan from him, stirring my tongue into harsh action. Mouths a flurry, our hands taking a new urgency as they wandered far from where they should have, his hand sliding under my swimsuit to cup my breast, kneeding it and bringing me to moan as his other seeked to undo the straps at the back. All the while, my hands gripped his brown locks while I closed my eyes. After what seemed like hours, the tension of my suit slackened, I let him slip the strings off my shoulders, until finally I was naked, his body poised above me, sweating slightly from our combined heat._

_I caressed his face, holding it level to mine, in the slowly darkening dusk, he looked worried, concerned for something._

"_You like?" _

"_Words can't-" He began, breathless._

"_Actions speak louder, Irve. Lets get to talking..." I leaned in for another kiss, my left hand reaching down, down..._

_And he stopped me. Held a finger to my lips. I paused my hand, something was up, something other than what I was seeking._

"_If we... You could..."_

_Oh, right._

"_Gotcha. So tonight..."_

"_Yeah, not that far. Still, there's other stuff." He winked._

"_So com'ere, Cowboy..." He leaned in again, I halted my search to grip his back with both hands as with tongue worked a trail down my neck, planting kisses on my nipples, massaging them with his fingers, making me gasp every time he rubbed them. Continuing his conquest, dipping his tongue into my belly button as he went further down..._

_Downdowndowndown!!_

_No, nononononono!_

_No._

_No._

_Yes!_

* * *

"-Selph?"

Selphie repressed a shudder, and turned back to Lulu. "Mmhmm?"

"Are you ill? You just... Blanked out." Lulu cocked her head, "Has something happened?"

"You bet your sweet lilies something happened..." She mumbled, before shaking her head and intoning loudly in the direction of the solar, "I'm just glad that we have somewhere nice and _tidy_ to talk _quickly _like civilized people do! On a regular basis!" her words echoed in the hall, and for once no sound came from the solar.

"What was that about?" Lulu laughed aloud, noting Selphie's slowly creeping blush and her clenched fists. "Uh... Can you keep a secret?" Selphie covered her face in her hands, aware that the more she had thought about what had happened, the more she realised...

"Lets see if I can guess it first..." Lulu looked at the mosaic on the ceiling as she ticked off her fingers, "... Right, first I mention Irvine..." She placed her finger on her thumb, "... Then you start shouting at the couple in the next room, maybe because the noise is making you think of something..." She pulled out her index with her other index, "Thirdly, you're blushing..."

"You've got it." Selphie sighed, "I don't know how you do it!" She whined, "I spend all this time building up a thing for him and... and I expect it to be some kind of massive revelation when I finally admit it, and you..."

"And I figure it out in less than a minute, go figure." Lulu shrugged, she had never really understood the intricacies of teen relationships first-hand, but even a cretin could have put two and two together.

_It's a pity that Irvine isn't a cretin_.

"You haven't answered me, did something happen?"

Selphie looked out the window onto the drive again, hoping for a distraction, "No."

"Liar", Lulu smiled, pulling out a wallet from somewhere in the dark depths of her dress. Opening it, she withdrew a length of photobooth pictures that she and the gang had taken during her 3rd year in High school. Tidus was one of the most prominent figures in the first picture, pulling back his ears while Sora held his head back in laughter next to him, holding a sheet of construction paper inscribed _He's an elf!! Save Zelda!_ in bold black highlighter while Larsa looked on bemusedly, the boy of 8 had his eyebrows raised as he leaned back from Tidus' elbows. The next consisted of Selphie, Kairi and Riku with his hair braided in a long ponytail, the girls were simply trying to cram into the foreground while Riku just hung in the back of the booth, close to tears at the torture of his silver locks. The next consisted of Irvine and an old friend of his who had visited from the Junior SEED academy in Gaia, Zell. The both of them had an arm over the shoulder of the other in a comradely gesture, Zell's face tattoo and striking blond hair clashing with the soft leather tones of Irvine's hat and jacket; the bottom of Irvine's personal copy was Autographed '_Here's hoping I get in! Zell_'. After Gaia had been consumed by the Heartless Irvine had framed the picture, and it still hung above his desk, illuminated on summer nights by the waxing moon. The next simply held Kairi, Sora, Selphie and Irvine, arms locked around waists in a semi-circle facing the camera. Sora's placard now read _Best friends 4eva!_ While they all grinned, Sora looking relaxed as always, Kairi looking quite happy at being squashed between two cute machos, Selphie gave her trademark 'I'm-happy-and-slightly-insane-and-not-so-slightly-hyperactive' look, and Irvine simply looked bewildered. The last consisted of a... Memento, and was held to the other four by a staple.

Lulu's mind flashed back, her eyes shut as she strived to remember every last detail, the picture was years old, but her memories were fresh...

* * *

"_Lu, Come on!" The Darse called, dragging my hand towards the booth. I called him Darse as an insult, originally it had grown from 'Ducks arse', a descriptive of his front-spiked hair, but it had become a term of affection as the years had gone on. _

"_d'nt want to go..." I grumbled behind his back, unaccustomed to his touch, the rough warmth of his skin set my senses on edge, I found herself trying to pull her hand out more than once before ultimately giving it up as futile. At 15, I had found the red-head to be relaxing company, if only for the fact that he never seemed to think and talk at the same time. But now..._

_I was 16, and I had fallen in love._

"_What are you talkin' about, you were the one who said we should take shots, ya?" Wakka sounded puzzled, slightly annoyed. I'd been doing that to him, lately. We'd been having fights, and even though we were only friends, they always seemed to hint at something else, to me. It was like he wanted me to trust him, to know that he would never wish me pain, even though we would argue over the smallest thing._

_Which was stupid, of course. How could I trust such an idiot?_

_Nevertheless, we were only a couple of metres from the booth, if I wanted out, this was the time to say so. _

"_Please, Lulu? I really wanna do this!" He sounded anxious, was this some kind of trick?_

_If it was, he couldn't have conducted it, he seemed genuine._

"_Fine". That's all I said. That's all that needed to be said._

_Right?_

_So we went in, he was wearing a most unbelievably stupid/happy expression that I had ever had the poor taste to witness, he chose the outline, some sappy, disgusting rose border, and set the timer to fast shot with a one second pause._

_And... I did something, I couldn't remember what had happened till I picked up the photoslip. _

_My eyes went wide, the first was simply him and me, side by side._

_The second, he was looking down at our hands, I guessed I had grabbed his._

_The third, he was looking like he'd been electrocuted, I had turned around and planted my other hand on his flank. I could dimly remember the feel of his toned side, the way it had shifted, the way he opened his lips and drawn a shocked breath..._

_The final picture held evidence that I had taken my chance, had leaned forward, had..._

_My first kiss, and it was with THAT imbecile?!_

_But nonetheless, there it was. Proof in the print, as it were._

_Then he finally came out of the booth, looking stunned. He ran his vision over the pictures, looked me in the eyes, and said..._

"_Lu, I... can't. Not now. Not with you. I'm sorry, ya?"_

_I lay in bed and cried for a week. I told everyone that it was the flu. It was a sickness, all the same._

* * *

"You girls done standing around?" a familiar sound echoed in the hall.

_Speak of the devil..._

"What's the deal? You hoping to catch some Selphie-Lulu action before you head home, Wakka boy?" Selphie concluded her taunt with a swiftly risen middle finger, which only brought a smile from the red-head. Lulu rolled her eyes and glared at him, the smile vanishing as quickly as it had begun. "It's not that, ya?" Wakka drawled, choosing to lean on the door to the Ballroom to hide his discomfort, offering the girls a glance at the goings-on inside. A live band (Courtesy of Dyme and his watercloning abilities, he'd left both the clones and an empty spa pool behind as a favour) was ripping the air apart with a strange mix of heavy metal and pop; Lulu caught sight of Barret chasing after Vaan and Ashe; both laughing as Vaan held Barret's metal arm, his trophy, aloft before disappearing from sight. "Penelo got the Party King sticks set up, we're gonna have a game of it!" He turned to Lulu, "'You in?"

"Party King? Sweet!" The door to the solar opened, spawning a grinning and red-faced Tidus. "How many are playing?" he asked Wakka, buttoning his shirt up.

"If you and the girls want in, 10." Wakka looked a little sour as a giggling Quistis could be heard searching for her glasses in the other room. "Jecht ain't gonna like this, scruffy."

"My old man? Screw him!" Tidus declared, thumping his chest once, proudly.

"That's the problem, ya? You're screwed out!" Wakka laughed out, "Blackmail, heh!"

Tidus just beamed, proud nevertheless.

"So, you in?"

"Hell yeah!"

"And you?" Wakka turned to Selphie and Lulu.

"Havn't got a-"

The silence hit them. The clones ceased to play, the jubilant voices of young party goers were halted, even the odd cicada playing upbeat insect calls in the gardens were hushed. Wakka mouthed out a sentence and looked puzzled at the lack of noise. He turned to Tidus, who attempting to speak back, and resorted to finally shaking his head. Lulu motioned for attention, brow creased as she held her right palm up, green lightning arcing to form in a controlled fashion, creating letters which became...

-NO SOUND?-

The others just nodded their heads.

-FOLLOW-

Lulu swept into the ballroom, expecting some fool to be rolling on the floor from such a _hilarious_ prank. Instead, Vaan, Ashe and the others were clearing tables while Barret carried a huge LCD screen from the gaming room and placed it in the middle of the ballroom. Feni was seen hooking up cables and connecting the screen to a squat chassis placed on the recently vacated buffet, giving them a distracted beckon as she attached a keyboard and microphone into the electronic whatever-it-was, swatting away her hip-length ponytail every time she spun around to grab another corded contraption.

Barret stomped back to the keyboard, his massive hands looking more at ease to crushing the hardware than using it. As he switched on the monitor and started up the computer, he would occasionally hold his surrendered metal arm into the air, apparently reading the small screen that showed up on his wrist before shaking his head. The monitor came to life, only showing the words _RECEPTION FAILING, TRY AGAIN LATER_.

Softly, by degrees, sound entered back into the world. Barret looked grim, the kids had confused expressions, and Feni appeared downright livid and uttered a red-hot stream of profanities, teeth bared at the unforgiving sentence.

"What's going on?" Quistis shot from the back. Feni got to her feet and swiped off Quistis' glasses, snapping them in half and removing the glass to create two rings of metal. Before she could register the what had happened, Feni stormed off to the spiral stairway that led to the second story.

"The hell was that?" Quistis cried, looking around as if to find the answer tucked in a corner.

"First things first, Quiche-"

"Don't call me that."

"Whatever, we're getting a signal from Riku's cellphone and we wanted to hear the little girls voice the best we could, so I set off this beauty-" Here he pulled a glowing blue orb of silence materia from his jacket "- to give us a bit less of a background, know what I mean? Second, Feni took your glasses to... there we go. IT'S BACK, FENI! Took her damn time..." He roared at the ceiling as the screen changed to _RECEIVING SIGNAL,_ _PLEASE STAND BY_.

"Those cost me a hundred!"

"Don't kid yourself, you only wore them for the looks."

After typing instructions into another, smaller square of information, Barret lay back and let the wash of teen chatter fill his ears.

He turned as Feni leapt down the stairs, slipping on the last and skidding on her butt to the buffet, polishing the marble as she went. "You sent the feed?" She asked, refering to the feed pulse that supplied microwave energy to the cellphone, preventing any sudden disconnections.

"Just waiting for a good, strong signal."Barret smiled, amused by Selphie hopping from foot to foot and informing everyone that this sounded _soooo_ black-op.

"Good, kids; SHADDUP!" She whinged at the throng as the screen faded and displayed a fuzzy face. "Is anyone getting this?" a sweet, worried voice sounded from the other end. It wasn't familiar.

"Who is this?" Barret rumbled into the microphone.

"This is officer Tike of the Island Patrol, whose cellphone is this?"

"It belongs to a Master Riku D, is he or any of his friends around there anywhere? They were supposed to be at a party tonight" Barret's face deepened, the soft light of the clones and the chandelier above made him look more a glacier than a man.

"We came across the wreckage of an abandoned van, a burning cottage, and this. No people, I'm afraid." The face paused, Lulu swore that it smiled before continuing, "We didn't find any tracks, apart from signs of a scuffle around the van, so we're thinking that they were attacked by Heartless. They went into the cottage after, but they didn't come out. Any ideas?"

"They're safe, don't worry about it. I'll fill you in, we're at 13 Phase Road. See you there." Feni chimed in, leaning in uncomfortably to Barret and speaking into the mic before hitting the disconnect button. The screen tuned out, and the tension in the room mellowed.

"Mind explaining yourself, little lady?" Barret growled, he hadn't enjoyed the little goof clambering over his shoulders to get to the keyboard.

"Simple, Naba's going to try doing a distance shift."

"Huh?"

"See, uh... Have any of you taken trips on the new transit system between here and Radiant Garden?" A score of nods indicated this was so. "Well, it can't make instant jumps between two points on the same world, just two points between other worlds, you following?" Slightly fewer nods. "Try and keep up. Well, since he can't just teleport 'em right here, he's moved the kids to another world where they can recover, and after he's taken a break, he'll move them back here, but in the house. Hopefully." She sighed. "If he was injured, then he wouldn't have bothered forming a breach barrier to prevent a universe with a higher energy density pouring energy, in this case heat, into a universe with a lower density. That would have been what set the cottage on fire."

"So... Sora and the rest are on another world?" Irvine piped up.

"Better than that, cutie." She took a breath for dramatic effect, "You see..."

"... They've gone to Heaven."

* * *

_My first cliffhanger! Woot! Now, if I don't get some reviews... I'll... I'll... Sulk. And it's not like you know about it, but if any freakin' whiney emo finds out someone has been more of a wuss than they have, they kill themselves for real, so no matter what happens, we all win, yeah?_


	8. Lost in Translation

_Huff, well, I wanted to get this up yesterday. -Shock horror- If you liked the idea that Saix was a nice guy before his Nobodization, don't read. If you don't like the notion that Sora and his friends might be staying in Heaven/Hae'van a little longer than expected, don't read._

_Hell, read it anyway, you sissies._

* * *

"Welcome to the city of T'en!" Naba beamed, truly happy to be back home at last. 

The shift portal had landed the gang in an alley, out of the sight of the general populous that walked the busy walkways and skylanes, out of the sight of the maglevs that flew noiselessly around the giant skyscrapers and disappeared under the darkened midnight clouds. As the tired teens stumbled through the dimensional gate, they took note of the clean buildings, built of black marble and 'smart' ceramics, designed to flex with the winds and the changing temperatures.

"It's nice, can we go grab something to eat? I'm starved!" Roxas said, enticed by the smell of something spicy that circulated in the air. "I'll go and pick up some when we're a li'l less exposed, so gimme a moment to close this thing, and don't go wanderin'." Naba muttered. Roxas took little heed, his spiky hair was mattled slightly from the dried blood, but his shining cerulean eyes took no note that he was screaming in pain just hours before. He ignored Naba's command to stay put while he closed the gate and approached a flowing skyway, resembling more a sloping escalator than anything else. Just as luck would have it, a young girl with copper skin and oaken hair was reading a small journal when she caught sight of his approach.

"Hey, do you know there's a cafe round here?" Roxas asked, looking down the street for a sign that advertised an eatery.

"Hazeaul?" The girl replied, cocking her head to the side.

"Hazeaul? How do you spell that?" Roxas spoke louder, his nerves wearing thin by the difficulties of the written word.

"Eivural na, seifeseife kep shinboroun?" The girl began backing away as she saw the rest of the gang in various states of injury, and staring at Sora's bare back, his shirt had been taken of to allow a blushing Kairi to check for bruises.

Pointing at Sora, she spoke again, looking as though she were about to throw up. "Doun... Doun vae oloth suba hinthygais?"

"What's she saying?" Sora asked, puzzled. The alley was beginning to feel crowded as more people began to look to see the source of the commotion.

The girl turned to look at a slightly older Indian boy with handsome features, who shrugged and repeated slowly, "Doun-" Here he lifted his palms up, "-vae-" he moved his arms in a barreling motion, "-oloth-", he pointed at Sora, "-suba hinthygais?" and here...

He removed his shirt and turned, showing four large shadowy circles that swirled over his upper back. As he made a hand movement, the circles expanded and moved away from his body, dissipating a couple of feet from his body, leaving behind...

Wings. His wings were a symphony of textures, his plumage a rich assortment of yellows, browns and silvery greys at the tips. He pointed at them repeatedly, then holding out his hand in an unspoken encouragement as they flapped twice, unable to stretch in the rapidly squashed opening.

"Are you... are you all Angels?" a stunned Sora was the first to speak, mouth wide open in shock.

"Kadimao Sylvaekin!" An older man shouted from the back, some of the nastier looking individuals started nodding, faces etched with frustration.

"What are you yammering about? Speak English!" Riku yelled back, the tension growing increasing hostile as a small group of young women pushed forward to the prow of the crowd, ushering a small girl of about five, clad in a black robe to the front. The mob grew silent with anticipation.

The girl gave a worried look to the oldest-looking member of the group, who nodded and beckoned Riku to come closer.

"Vetch!"

Naba ran towards the group, pushing Riku behind him, "Didn't I tell you lot to stay put? Now shut the fuck up and let me talk you out of a painful death." He said all this in a singsong tone while maintaining a pleasant expression.

"Has-toumagin, conee djagi kia dou." Naba turned towards the older woman, bowing slightly.

As the two conversed, the crowd seemed to grow disinterested and went to their previous tasks, with the exception of the Indian and the Copper-skinned girl, who looked intent on discovering whatever bothered them.

"What do you reckon's up with them? They creeped out that we don't have... those things?" Roxas looked over his shoulder at the small girl in black who was waving shyly. He waved back.

"I wish we did, they're so pretty..." Kairi looked wistfully at the Indian, who had forgotten to replace his discarded clothes.

"Isn't this Naba's hometown, or something? I'm pretty sure he said he lived here." Sora was trying to pry open a potion lid with his fingers with limited success. Finally resorting to summoning the Ultima weapon and tapping the lid with the handle. On the appearance of his Keyblade, the Copper girl sighed and muttered something in her tongue, whereupon the older woman looked over at the weapon, smiled, and walked away with her entourage.

Naba breathed a puff of relief, and walked back over to the kids. "Thank god you did that, everyone knows that humans can't draw magika."

"What? And what's with those wings?" Sora questioned, before quaffing the potion.

"Kids, lets start from the top. You are on the world-span of Hae'van, the pure land. It's inhabitants are the Syl'vaen, better known to humans as the Fair Folk, the Shining ones, the Elves, the Kami, the Shivans, and the Angelos Divinum."

"So, you're an angel too?" Namine asked, entreating an embarrassed foot shuffle from Naba.

"Yeah, and trust me, that's not a good thing."he breathed out again, and sat down against the wall.

"See, technically, we're a dimensional travelling race, numbering around... oh... Seventy billion? Once a world grows too populated for our liking, we simply move to a parallel world that hasn't been colonized and take it over. Our universe has a helluva lotta energy per square foot or whatever, so we evolved the ability to manipulate reality to our liking over the past million years and such. That's what the wings are for."

"Can we see yours?" Sora asked, face eager and willing to watch.

"Later, I'll explain why in a sec. Now, our wings can't be used for flight. Mass ratios and such more or less forbid it naturally. Nope, they're to increase our body area and cool us down, allowin' us to gather the essence of magika with a little more urgency." He paused, "Now, you kids have gotta keep your shirts on, when I was on the run, we were at war with the denizens of the Hae'l empire. Hae'l bein' the Sylvaen word for Earth, so by all rights I should've slit your throats the moment we came here. Humans are raped, immolated and killed when found, not necessarily in that order. Don't talk, don't speak, just follow me. Speaking of which, come on, I'll take you to a den of mine."

"You were on the run?"

"Tell ya later."

Naba stood up, stepping onto a moving walkway that let into the sky amid the swarm of the city. Quick to point out the landmarks as they slowly swerved into a quieter district (Namine pulled out her sketchbook from a tiny pocket and began drawing the people they passed, chuckling at the strange tattoos and body-markings they wore) and answering questions as they passed statues of Faustian insanity. He then begged them to close their eyes as they stepped onto another walkway after Sora pointed out the unclothed statues, performing what appeared to be a strange form of yoga.

"Hey, are they..."

"I don't think men should be looking at that, Sora. It's supposed to make you blind." Kairi giggled, and wished for a digital camera so she could take notes for later.

Finally, the walkway curved in parallel to a cul-de-sac, nestled over a large building that appeared to produce medieval weapons, judging from the trucks that were loaded to the brim with strange instruments of death. Roxas swore he saw a corkscrew in the pile.

Jumping off, Naba knocked on the door of a reasonably conditioned house, all rounded and bubbly and not very house-like at all, looking like an upside-down triple icecream cone... without the cone.

"No-ones in, and the door is probably tripwired by now, any ideas?"

"Leave it to me." Sora grinned, his Keyblade bursting into his hands as he pointed it at the door. Seconds later, a beam of light struck the smooth wood and the door swung open.

"Lucky bastard" Naba grumbled under his breath as Sora strolled into the abode.

Inside, it was clear that whatever Naba had been doing in here, it wasn't housekeeping. Clothes littered the stairs to the second story, and the kitchen was indescribable, save that it looked like a picture from a book on Bacteriological warfare. The dining room to the left was more or less intact, aside from all the dead plants. It was the table, however, that caused the most concern.

"That stuff's not suitable for young children!" Naba whimpered as Namine picked up a magazine out of curiosity and flipped to a random page. Her eyes went wide at the acts depicted there-in. "I didn't know you could use wings for _that._" She muttered as Naba cringed, waving Kairi over.

Flipping to the next page, Kairi tilted her head with Namine to get a better glimpse , "Isn't that physically impossible?" she asked, drawing Riku's attention, who simply rolled his eyes and laughed before adding, "Looks like Naba gets a little lonely..." Naba simply flipped him the bird and plucked the magazine from her hands, grabbing the rest of the collection strewn on the table and taking the one that Sora and Roxas were pouring over with a glare.

"I'll just be putting these back, now." He said, red-faced as he jammed the pile into an airing cupboard.

He paused at the sight of a number of short syringes. "That reminds me, kids, come here and hold out your arms." Grabbing a hypodermic, he held the needleless tip to Kairi's underarm. "This might sting a bit" he said as he pressed the button on the other end. The sound of escaping gas mingled with Kairi's quick gasp as the small amount of fluid was pushed into her bloodstream.

He repeated the procedure with the others, Sora shying back from the syringe until Naba pointed out a magazine he had missed, and applied the fluid into Sora's shoulder before he could register.

"Now go and sit yourselves down, once the neurocyte is enabled, you'll find you can speak and read Sylvaen with ease. I'm off to get some grub, so make yourselves at home."

"Don't need to tell me twice!" Roxas and Sora chorused, "Jinx!" Kairi shouted, giving them each a punch on the arm. Now she was honour-bound to beat them, a blow for every word until she let slip their names. Once, it had continued for three days (Much to the irritation of the school teachers.) until she asked Sora for some glue in woodwork.

"So, anyone got any plans as to how we're going to get back to the party?", Riku drawled, sprawling over a long sofa and trying to get comfortable with the pillows.

"Shit, I'd forgotten about it! I missed my sweet sixteen!" Sora and Roxas cried out, earning them 10 blows apiece (With one for luck), Kairi dropping the jinx due to her tired arms.

"We can always hold another when we get back..." Namine ventured from a long chair.

"I dunno if we could get anyone to come anymore. You think Olette, Hayner and everyone would wanna come to the next one?" Roxas replied, sitting next to her and sliding an arm around her waist, earning a smile.

"If you flirted with Olette like you do with me, I'm sure she'd find a way to badger the rest of them into going" she giggled, leaning into his shoulder.

"Oh please, would you two get a room?" Sora yawned, lying on a huge beanbag that molded to his body shape, Kairi taking place beside him, pointing out an LCD screen attached to the ceiling. So big it nearly _was _the ceiling. The _romance_ _a la nobody _forgotten as Riku located a remote on a wall bracket, and pointing it at the screen, pressed various buttons until the screen burst into life.

On the show was a young woman, wings displayed in a shimmering contour of greens and soft blues as she spoke to the camera, occasionally an inset box in the top-right corner would show pictures, this of a spanking new building for something-or-whatever, here a fire being fought by several other winged folk conjuring huge blasts of water into the inferno, before it went out entirely.

All the babble that came from her mouth slowly became understandable as the neurocyte took effect.

"...Hae'van'tagge djen toetn kaveroswar in the Eucylid sector, an unprovoked attack by the Hae'l empire on the world dimension Capital of Solmae'colony-not-port was repelled today by the third company with the assistance of Avatars Phoen and Kaed'jii. Casualties on the Dae'mon side were extensive, while our warriors sustained a slight death-rate from artillery fire. More on this tomorrow, as..."

"Late night news channels, the bane of every civilisation." Kairi remarked dryly, Riku laughed in appreciation.

The reporter stopped her presentation as she held a hand to the side of her head. "I've just received some new information regarding the Renegade Avatar, Haer'Nabaios. His Aura has been tracked along the Gysther Walkways, moving towards the industrial district, carrying suspicious packages. If anyone is to come into contact with him, desist, he is considered extremely dangerous. If seen, report to the number below-" Here a short string of numerals appeared at the lower edge of the screen "- He is to be held answerable for war crimes, including Murder of a superior, Murder of an insubordinate, Rape and torture of a guardianship, embezzlement of military assets, desertion, sabotage of a communications array and disobeying orders. To repeat, His Aura has been scried-"

The screen went out, so did all the lights in the house. The electronic hum that no-one had noticed had died out, leaving the teens in shocked silence. "Do you think-" Kairi began.

The entrance blew up in a cloud of splinters, and a man clad entirely in heavy combat gear emerged from the pulped doorway, swinging a large gattling cannon in their direction. "Don't move!" He shouted, reaching to touch a button on his wrist, "Control, I have reason to believe that we have a hostage situation here, conform?"

"What the hell?" Riku yelled, the Way To Dawn appearing in his hands. Sora, Kairi and Roxas mimicked his actions as Ultima weapon, Oathkeeper and Oblivion sprung to life, Namine's hands glowing red as she readied a Flare.

"Hostile situation! Repeat, Hostile Situation!" The man screamed into his helmet, spinning around and unloading round after round in Kairi's direction, only to have the shells explode uselessly against a readied Reflega Sphere. Namine's flare flew towards him, the force of the bolt slamming him through the wall and into the kitchen, the man didn't get back up as his radio blazed with static.

"Which way?" Sora shouted.

"Take the front out, they'll have the back covered!" Riku yelled back, slicing apart the wall that let to the outside.

The scene that greeted them wasn't very encouraging, the walkway had been replaced by a floating metal platform, large enough to take the squads of men who presented the kids with a wall of ammo as they rushed into the cold air, only Namine's Spells kept them from hitting their mark.

Sora was the first to charge in, breaking his way through their ranks as he let loose an explosion of magic from his mighty weapon, sending soldiers flying off the platform to their deaths. Kairi and Roxas were the next to play a part, unleashing their limit, 'Undying Reunion' upon the hapless angels, columns of burning light seared through their ranks as Roxas pushed further into the center, ready to focus a massive pulse of energy into the platoon. Riku was the last to partake, his Keyblade parrying bullets and plasma fire at impossible speeds as he fell back-to-back with Sora, the two swerving and striking, a fatal whirl of metal and magic came from the centre of the chaos that they caused, carving through the soldiers like meat.

And suddenly, as Roxas fired the finishing burst, it was over. Soldiers lay dead or dying around them, the screams of those who had plummeted to their deaths still ringing in their ears. There was a flash; a red, somehow _alive_ light exploded into their senses.

And then, the pain came.

It was a liquid fire, triggering the nerves of pain while leaving the flesh unharmed. The kids didn't know that, disabled by the torment that they were experiencing first-hand. Riku was the only one who didn't scream, his body began to compensate for it by forcing him to spasm, and finally whimper, writhing on the ground in a dance of agony.

The pain lingered, even after the spell had worn off, even as the teens felt themselves picked up by invisible hands and carried to the middle of the platform, the soldiers brushed off by a wave of force as the kids were laid down.

"It is as I have said, mistress. The Moth has accomplices." A young voice sounded, gleeful with the sight of the screaming Keybladers as he kicked Sora in the ribs, provoking another groan.

"That will do, A'si. Which is the one who bares the weapon?" A slightly younger, if huskier, female voice echoed in response. Riku bit down on his lip, forcing his eyes open to see a pale male, his brown hair strangely tinted with aquamarine streaks, and Riku tried to figure out why he looked so familiar.

"'Tis he, he who lies with the silver one. He bares the True Bladed Key, the Opener."

Riku saw a woman, her features running with plasma in a terrible beauty that made his heart race. Her ebony skin softly caressed the Keyblade's length, her hands hefting Sora's weapon, swinging it once before it vanished, appearing in Sora's hands again. She tried to grasp the Key again, but with her red-tipped wings, only to have the same result, the light when it vanished illuminated her golden robes and amused smile. "Interesting weapon." She mused, holding her chin up with her fist.

"Ah, but mistress, if I could tell you how many dear friends I saw fall to that very Blade..." A'si's face creased in mock sorrow. "But alas, if only I'd had a heart, I would have cared for their deaths. A pity."

_If I'd had a heart…_ _Oh god, this can't be real._

_Saix!_

"You... should've... stayed dead." Riku spat in the former Nobody's direction.

"And you should have stayed in the dark, tainted one." A'si laughed.

"You know these... Things?" The ebony-skinned woman spoke, her clear tones edged with revulsion.

"You bet your sweet ass he does, lady." Riku groaned, pushing himself to his feet and slumping as he stood, swaying from fatigue and the aftereffects of the skin-fire. "Sora wiped the floor with that Lunaphile." He smiled, trying to lift his Keyblade, to save his friends again.

"You don't know what it's like to die, Dark one. Shall I dem-" A'si stopped his gloating with a look of mild surprise as his head rolled off his body, blood spurting in a crimson flood from the neck wound as his body collapsed, drenching Namine in the steaming stream who retched herself into unconsciousness. And then Naba was there, a silver flamberge with a crescent tip held in his right arm, slivers of blood pooling in the grooves along the sides.

"And so, the moth returns." Spoke the woman, completely unabashed by his sudden appearance. "Killing the same superior _twice_, Nabaios? You may have set a record, there."

"Cut the small talk, the children have Amnesty. Let them return home, I have vowed to them."

"And why, dear lover? Why should the phoenix leave the moth to burn in some other flame?" As she spoke, long poles that burned white-hot with sunfire formed out of the air, Riku could feel his hair singe as the heat rolled over him, shielding his eyes, he saw that she had her arms folded, looking more like a wife who had intercepted her husband returning at midnight from the pub.

"If I were to burn in any other flame, rest assured, it would be as a match to a bonfire, sweet D'java."

Naba smiled, eyebrows raised and oblivious to the heat.

"Then you agree; that they must go, and leave the moth to his doom?"

"Naba, don't! Fight your way out!" Riku cried out, shedding tears from his drying eyes.

"If that is truly the option, then yes. So let it be said, so let it be done." Naba ignored Riku and moved his hands in a blur, the platform beginning to glow with lines depicting dimensional co-ordinates.

As Riku began sinking into the ground, twisting and trying to escape from the pull of the otherworld, Naba only looked at him and said softly, "Riku, seek the Hive."

And then the city of T'en, the streets lined with civilian observers and crew cameras, the sad but happy face of Nabaios, the flame-etched woman, D'java...

All vanished.

* * *

_Oof! I'm getting into the hang of this now! I've got ideas for the plot, the ending, and the next chapter. I'll have it up by the end of the week, so Giggidy-giggidy-goodbye!_


	9. The night has ended

_Hey guys, but damn! Exams are taking a lot of my time, that, and the Highwind Academy and assorted RPGs. No, I'm not a nerd. BLATANT LIE_

_So, here's the next chapter, a month overdue._

* * *

Riku didn't know what to expect when he sunk through the portal. He didn't really expect anything, no flashing lights, no dark, ominous chanting, no visions of a circling globe of light and a helium-mix of a voice…

Of all the things that he didn't expect, it was still kind of a shock when he landed on warm marble, surrounded by steam. He heard a few, slightly muffled thumps as the others landed in a heap, Kairi still twitching from the skin-fire that the… woman…

Prompted by the memory, the skinfire rebirthed and crawled along his fingers, making Riku clutch his hands to his chest, unknowingly allowing the fire to spread onto his sternum, peaking around his nipples as the agony grew. He curled up and screamed, his body dancing the now-familiar break of torture.

"HOLYBEJEEZUSFUCK!!" Riku recognized the voice through his suffering …

_Ashe__…?_

* * *

After Feni had cursed her brother in the same strange language that had been spoken on T'en, and bereaving the fact that the teens had destroyed the swimming pool shifting in; the gang made their way into the manor, shrugging off curiosity from their friends and taking their rooms after Barret had treated them for their injuries. '_Should've brought Yuffie with me…'_ He muttered, mutinous at playing nurse. 

Sora and Riku, however, still had stigmas of skinfire, and needed specialist treatment to get them off.

"Stop squirming!" Feni gave Sora's butt a playful slap, earning a dark look from Kairi as he squiggled around, trying to stop the fire from creeping down his pants. "Now hold still, and try not to breath." Her fingers circled the small spot of point-birth ("The area where the spell hits, and then re-originates." Feni remarked obnoxiously) on his back, leaving a small residue of magicka as it cancelled the spell-matrix.

"Is it gone?" Sora whimpered, drawing a chuckle from Wakka, who remembered that Sora had always been partial to pranks involving bees, and had reacted in exactly the same manner when he and Tidus had biffed an old nestcomb through his bedroom window. He turned over, exposing his bare chest to the world. Feni blinked, flushed a little, and turned away, "It's gone, put your damn shirt on!" She yelled after an awkward silence, a smile creeping slowly up her cheeks. Kairi rolled her eyes and ruffled Sora's hair, sliding her hands down his back to give him a long-overdue backrub.

"Ehhhhhhh-ohhhhhh… Feni, Guys, not to be rude, but could you…?" Sora leaned back slightly and let Kairi's fingers work their magic on his stiff flanks, biting back an unmanly giggle when her tips brushed past his sides.

"Hmph!" Feni lifted her chin and walked right through the door, slamming it as she passed the knob and gave it a jerk. She headed to Riku's room, hoping that his single status wouldn't prove to make her gag. The others drifted back to their rooms as they walked out, feeling worn out from the night's events.

"Soooo… How's my muffin?" Sora winced as she called him by his baby-name, "My big, bad Sora all sad cause widdle Riku pinched his cake slicer? Hmmm?" She giggled as he twitched, his body slowly leaning till he lay prone on his stomach, the guest bed creaking as it took their weight. Kairi pulled herself onto his thighs, straddling him as she balled her fists to work out the kinks in his spine.

"That's got nothing to do with it…" Sora gasped as his back _clicked_, shifting slightly to better accommodate his masseuse. "Firstly, we got trashed. That I can deal with, I mean, Larxene gave me a good whomping when… well, I can deal with that. Second, we got tortured. Don't like that much, strangely. Third, we're missing our babysitter, and knowing him, he'll charge us for the time he spends in that world when he gets back. And finally… Riku stole my damn cake slicer!" At the last outburst, Sora stretched backwards and shook his fist at the ceiling. "DAMMIT RIKU!!"

"Hey… Shush! Now let's see about the front!" Kairi patted his back, and he rolled himself over so he could see her better, his face fell when he saw her look, her lips arced in a sadistic grin as her hands fluttered up his chest. "Kairi… What are you doing?" She only put a finger to his lips and smiled, softly inching her way up his body as she leaned closer, her hips softly moving against his crotch as Sora broke out in a sweat. "Wha- Someone could come in!" He whispered frantically, not exactly aware of what was happening.

Sure, He and Kairi had been an item since he returned to the islands, but what with the compensatory schooling and readjusting to a relatively carefree life, they'd never really had a chance to be _alone_. His mother had nailed down the window in his room, and his father was always working from home….

They'd shared their first kiss when they were 12, bletching after they touched lips in the manner of those still obsessed with cooties. But Sora had finally worked up the courage to, as Tidus put it, 'Play the ol' arm-over' a month after his return. The resulting slap in the face had been a slight cock-blocker, to put it mildly.

They'd started trying to sneak kisses after that, here and there, but Sora had the feeling that Kairi was just toying with him..

"Hey, Sora…" Kairi purred, her lips scant centimetres from his, "… Newsflash, as of today, you're officially legal…" She closed the distance, locking lips with his, savouring his taste, teasing his lips with her tongue as she withdrew, leaving him panting with his hands gripping her legs. "Happy birthday!" she giggled as she started to slide a hand down his pants, her eyes unassuming and confident.

Her hands stopped abruptly as something thudded on the door, "Oi! Sora! Where do you reckon they keep the plasmacks?" Roxas' voice sounded from the corridor.

"What?!" Sora called back, his body jerking upwards as Kairi quickly withdrew her questing limb, what the _hell_ were plasmacks?

"Oh, sorry!" His voice echoed from under the door, "I just can't sleep, you know how it is."

"So what you're saying… Is that Roxas…" Kairi shot back through the wood.

"Yeah…?"

"… _The_ Roxas…"

"Yeah…?" Roxas sounded a little chirpier at the possible praise.

"… The Roxas; who, when he sleeps, makes everyone decide to stock up on earplugs and suicide pills the morning after… he cannot sleep? Jubilations!" Kairi stuck out her tongue and rolled her eyes at the boy's complaints that he _didn't_ snore.

"Heh, Kairigimmemyshirtbeforehewalksin!" Sora whispered in a fast-paced babble as Roxas started fiddling with the doorknob.

"How do you open this thing?!" He cried through the thick timber.

Kairi waited until Sora had shrugged his top on, and then kicked the left-hand corner of the door, popping it open and smacking Roxas on the nose. The resulting shriek attracted a dozy looking Vaan (The others had gone to sleep, calling it an early night at Barret's yelling). His slicked, dirty-blond locks sprouting cow-licks as he made his way back with a coke clenched in one hand, eyes blinking a little from fatigue.

"'Sup, Rox." Vaan drawled, unconcerned that Roxas' nose was beginning to swell as the Nobody sat dazed on the floor.

"Ohmygod! Roxas!" Kairi squealed, Sora putting his hands over his ears and twisted his mouth in a pantomime of pain at the noise. Roxas waved Kairi off and stood up, staggering a bit as he walked into the room.

Vaan was taking a pull of fizzy when he caught Sora's look and laughed, the coke spurting out his nose.

"Ew!" Roxas said disgustedly as the drink splashed onto his shirt, Vaan was holding his sneezer and crying with pain as the acid worked on his sinuses, rushing back to the bathroom to wash them out.

They watched him run off, both parts amused and confused.

Roxas noticed Sora shifting around, trying to rearrange his manhood into a slightly less compromising position with his hands in his pocket.

"Did I end something?"

* * *

"And then… well, I collapsed on the door, she was still looking at me like I was some kind of… monster!" Riku cried, venting his experiences onto Feni as she dressed his back, the skinfire already dissolved. 

This had become something of a habit, beginning after he admitted his thing for Naminé at her pressing after he'd left. Feni was really the only person that Riku could consider to be family. His parents, grandparents, siblings… If he had them, he didn't know them, the orphanage had decided that he was still too young to know their circumstances. Feni had become a sister figure, if nothing else.

"Did you _want_ to become a Heartless?"

"Don't be stupid." He shot back.

"Well, I guess that's what makes you… you. You almost raped her, but you didn't. You almost killed my brother, but you didn't." Feni shrugged, in effect summing up her feelings on the matter. "What you did, Riku, is showed yourself all the things you've bottled away. You're aching after things that you can't have, dreaming of things that you'll never attain. Pardon my opinion, but you need to get laid, and soon."

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"You're young, chum. Figure it out."

Riku lay back, letting Feni fuss around his room as he thought about what she meant. _So, she's saying that sex is the key to all this? Whatever. Maybe to her, it is._ He turned over and slumped onto the bed, his cheek sinking into the soft pillow. _On the other hand, Namine is more or less what I've been obsessing over, ever since Sora and I returned..._ The pillow proved to be too low, so he slid another on under it and moved his chest up the bed_. So that means... I have to forget about Namine. But how_? His thoughts began to grow slightly muddled as the calm stars winked through the gap in the curtains, reminding him of the night he'd made the decision to travel on the middle road, the way to dawn.

Riku's eyes closed as he felt the darkness fade within him, making a silent promise to never submit, not until he had his answers. _I will... be complete._

Within minutes, he was slumbering gently, clad only in his boxers on the bed, cushioned by the sheets and balmy winds easing into the room. Feni watched his lids flicker for a moment; already, the boy was dreaming. She bent over him, pulling the sheets up as she kissed his forehead with a suprising tenderness before walking out of the room.

"I hope you find her." Was all she said to his recumbent form as she closed the door behind her.

* * *

_Short chapter, I know. I'm in a slump, as I've said before. Thanks to those who've reviewed, it means a lot.. It might be while until I get to the next one, though..._


	10. Of Rogues and recollections

_After much Haitus, Chapter something! --Goes to check the chapter number--_

* * *

"Namine!" 

Namine stopped to watch Ashe bend over and catch her breath, not for the first time envying her friend for her high-born status. The pile of birthday presents intended for Sora to open the night before lay unopened in the hall as of yet, but Ashe's had been easily recognizable. After all, who could mistake the package for anything but a kayak, and who else had the ability to buy one?

"Um… Ashe, I'm glad to see you, but…" Namine held open the door to the shower room as an explanation.

"That can wait!" Ashe pressed forward and grabbed Namine's hand, "You've got to listen to this before Selphie arrives!" With no other ulterior motive, she began pulling her friend towards the wing of the manor designated for the men. Holding Namine outside an out-of-the-way bathroom and motioning her to silence, Ashe held her ear theatrically to the door, Namine followed suit and made out Irvine and Riku talking in a hush on the other side of the door.

"I saw them going in together, and they were both looking a little… you know… flushed…" Ashe winked.

"What were you doing here anyway?"

"Looking for someone." Ashe again waved the young blonde into stillness.

Namine heard nothing more than a few grunts and a slight bang before they started conversing again.

* * *

'_So, Riku, you've never done anything like this before?'_

'_Yeah, you have a problem with that?'_

'_Well, no, but I kind of imagined you would have started this way before I did…'_

'_Well, even when I was with Sora, it wasn't really noticeable… But now… there's no hiding it, I guess.'_

'_Okay, well, I'll get you started on technique. First, grip this thing by the handle.'_

'_Whoa… Feels a little weird.'_

'_Nothing like a keyblade, huh?'_

'_Yeah… well, this is softer.'_

'_Cool, then let's get the white stuff on you, pretty boy…'_

'_Hey, what, you're doing it too?'_

'_Man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.'_

Namine and Ashe detached from the door, with the Nobody clamping her hand over her mouth to stifle the combined sounds of utter shock and insane giggling from emerging through her lips. Whereas the young 'princess' was simply kneeling on the floor doing goldfish impressions, before turning to Namine and whispering, "Do you think Selphie would mind?"

"Would you?"

"Good point…" Ashe flashed a grin and put her ear back to the old wood.

'_Hey, Riku, softer strokes, man. You ain't cleaning no onion, that's a tender area.'_

'_Sorry, Irvine. But it's hard to control the urge to go faster, you know what I mean? I just want to get this over and done with.'_

'_That's true, but when I first practiced on myself I ended up doing a lot of damage, now lets go for the mouth!'_

'_I dunno if I can do that yet…'_

'_Don't be stupid! You've got good control!'_

Ashe's face was blooming into a brilliant crimson as Riku or Irvine began making puffing noises at irregular intervals. Namine simply pressed her ear harder into the wood.

'_That's good, Riku, real good.'_

'_Mmph.'_

'_Okay, now, a few more strokes and… hang on, lemme just finish that bit for you.'_

'_Fffpt, right.'_

A few seconds passed in silence.

'_Ow!'_

'_Dammit! Sorry Riku!'_

'_Watch where you're waving that thing, you almost put my eye out!'_

'_Heh, my bad. See? Apart from your face getting covered in gunk, you're fine!'_

'_This stuff tastes like crap!'_

'_Better get used to it, man. Now wash it off, put on the scent, get toilet paper for my little accident, and you're fine till tomorrow!'_

The door burst out, sending Ashe to land neatly on her rump with Namine in tow, leaving Irvine standing shirtless with a few splotches of shaving foam covering his face and astonishment radiating from his eyes.

"What are you two doing here? You get lost or something?" He finally blurted out.

Ashe gave a look to Namine before pointing an accusatory finger at the Cowboy's chest, "Don't you ask us questions, we heard everything!"

"Everything?"

"That's right! You can't just go and fool around with Riku, you've got Selphie!"

"Huh?!"

"Don't you 'huh' me! Admit it, he was sucking your-!"

"Irve? Who's making the racket?" Riku's voice rumbled from around the door as he circumvented the edge, frowning as he caught sight of the girls. "Do you mind?"

"Your-… your-…" Ashe's indictions petered out as her eyes ran up and down Riku's form like an elevator.

"My what?" Riku cocked his head, his curtain of silver hair flicking over his shoulder and hitching up his leaf-green board shorts. Namine noticed that the boy had rather larger streaks of foam adorning his chin and upper lip, and there was a thin cut under his chin that hadn't yet finished bleeding.

That; and the razor that he was twirling in his right hand caused her to doubt the entire episode entirely.

"Your first time shaving?" Namine inquired, her features beginning to fall.

Riku simply nodded, before turning back to the basin within.

Namine grabbed Ashe's shoulder, shaking her to attention and dragging her out to the female wing, leaving Irvine to scratch his head in confusion.

Ashe was grinning when Namine left her in her room, only electing to speak about 'sexy guy-on-guy bathroom action…' when questioned.

* * *

Half an hour later, Sora and the crew were seated around the huge oak table, trying to both cram in as much breakfast as was possible and recollect the series of events leading up to their defeat in T'en. 

"… and then this huge flash of red shows up; and our bodies feel like they've caught on fire…"

"There was this lady in a golden toga…"

"This guy called A'si starts bragging to her…"

Feni and Barret listened intently, with the darker man occasionally making notes on a holographic PDA that he called up from his wristplate. Feni remained silent, for the most part, only asking questions when she felt something was missing from the story.

The others, Penelo, Tidus and the rest would comment every now and again, only to be angrily silenced by Roxas or Barret when they opened their mouths.

"… And your brother cut his head off, I felt I was going to throw up!"

"… They talked…"

"Something about an… 'amnesty', wasn't it?"

"Yeah, and then he told Riku to 'seek the Jive' or something."

"… Did something weird…"

"And here we are."

Silence reigned, until Barret threw up his hands in frustration and turned to Feni, "Sorry, pipsqueak, but this old man is finding all this really hard to follow."

Feni steeped her hands and rest her forehead against them for a minute, before electing to draw out a sigh and held her eyes at Riku. "What was the last thing he said?"

"Seek the Hive." Came Riku's curt reply.

"What's with your attitude?" Feni narrowed her eyes.

"You're hiding something."

"What would I hide?"

"His past. Why is he a wanted man?"

"I don't know anything about-"

"The news broadcast in T'en claims that he's a murderer and a rapist." This was followed by a short gasp from Penelo and a much louder yell from Barret. "I should've known!" He shouted into Feni's face, whereupon she jumped from her seat, backing away slowly until she bumped into the wall.

"We don't want a monster like that looking after our children." Barret growled, advancing with malice in his eyes.

"He was justified in it!"

"Nothing justifies murder!" Barret roared back. "And no excuse is good enough to cover for a killer!"

"Barret! Calm down!" Sora appealed from the table, rising and hurrying over to position himself between the two before the larger man brushed him out of the way, continuing to advance.

"You lied to us."

"No, the broadcast was nothing but propaganda." Feni's lip was trembling, her fists were balled and her stance was low. "He killed to avenge my honour, and I will stand by him for that."

"Where's your proof?"

"You want proof? Here!" Feni lifted the bottom of her t-shirt above her chest, unabashed at her exposed undergarments. Not that any were staring, all looked at the grotesque strip of scar tissue that curved from the sides of her abdomen, misshapen and obscenely pale.

Feni glared into Barret's eyes, her voice low and terrible. "When I was captured and interrogated, A'si was obliged under the HIST reconversion act to use any form of torture he saw fit to reform me to the Sylvaen construct, to use me as a tool against my brother. So he took my innocence from me, made me beg for forgiveness like a dog."

Her jaw tightened as she continued, "He toyed with my maiden-right before he violated me to the utmost limit, while his men watched and laughed and cheered. There was no orifice of mine that he did not subject to his sadistic pleasures, that did not bleed, and he ripped out my womb with his bare hands after he was spent, that no man could ever have me. When my brother heard of this travesty of jurisdiction, his rage was so complete that he lay the entire building they held me in to waste and escaped to the outer parameters of the dimensional boundaries to evade pursuit. Two hundred innocents died, but so did A'si, or so I thought until today."

"That was eight years ago, wasn't it?" Riku softly spoke from the far end of the table, "I first met Naba when he moved here eight years ago, he said that the air here would help his sister get better. And you don't look like you've aged a day since then, is that because…."

"That's right. And thanks for noticing." Feni smiled sadly, looking for all the world like her brother the night before as she let down her shirt, "He was not trained in body-order craft, so I clung to life by a finger, feverish and near-dead for a month before I could reassert my magicka augments and restore my body."

Her eyes lit up. "I am glad that he slew A'si again. May the bastard die a thousand deaths for what he did to me." She grinned. "What's done is done. Come, let us celebrate your birthday, Sora, before the moonshine corrodes through the bottles!"

This wasn't received well, as the revelation of the nature of the brutal world that the strange brother and sister came from began to dawn on the occupants of the room.

"What about…?" Kairi began.

"My brother? He'll be fine. Djava's on his side, and there's no stronger, wiser, more powerful Sylvaen in the history of ever!" She waved her hands around, "Plus, I wanna see what _you_…" here she jabbed a finger at Kairi's nose, "… got your boyfriend. Unless you've given him something already…?" and here her eyebrows waggled suggestively.

Sora's cheeks began to shade towards a cherry complexion as he remembered last night, and what might have happened had Roxas not interrupted so soon. "We're just good friends…" He muttered embarrassedly, so the general disbelief of all concerned and the immense amusement of Riku. Kairi didn't comment on the matter, instead showing an intense interest in the texture of her waffles.

The rest of the breakfast was finished in relative silence, with Roxas' almost mechanical chewing counterpointing with the tinkling and scraping of cutlery on plate, although Riku seemed to have a small matter on his mind as he toyed with his bacon. As Roxas and Selphie began clearing the table, Sora allowed a chuckling Wakka to blindfold him while Lulu and Quistis levitated the majority of the presents from the hall into the ballroom, leaving them in a great heap in the middle as Tidus and Vaan began ferrying the remaining gifts with glee.

Everyone took a seat at the mound, Sora the last to park himself of the polished marble. He removed his blindfold and could only gape in what could be charitably described as childish abandon. He reached forward and grabbed a fair-sized one at random, before realizing that it was stuck to a much smaller box with glue, about the size of a ring case. _To spiky, from a much sexier spiky and a handsome spike-head._ He read aloud, puzzling over the words for a second before inspiration clicked and he laughed, "Tidus? Wakka? Sexier? Yeah right!" to the chagrin of the two.

He opened the larger box, looking with curiosity at the crafted leather items within, "Gloves?" he looked over at Wakka.

"Ya man, Grip gloves! We figured we could use a goalie!" Smiled the Blitzball fanatic in reply.

"Nice! Thin, but they fit really well, cheers!"

"Yeah, well, with ten players in the blitz sphere, it gets warm pretty quick anyway, ya!"

"Not to mention yellow, heh heh heh…" Vaan chuckled as Penelo cuffed him from behind and Ashe pulled a face.

Sora gave him a warm smile before looking with caution at the smaller box. "Um, Tide, is this what I think it is?"

"Yes, oh, Sora, I just can't hold it in any longer! Marry me, you fool!" Tidus held a hand to his forehead in a melodramatic fashion, his other outstretched in supplication to the birthday boy as the others laughed in appreciation.

"A simple 'no' would have done." Sora remarked sulkingly as the lid came off; revealing a pendant similar to the one Tidus wore around his chest. Carved in sterling silver and shaped to represent a crown with a stylized key attached to the bottom of a chain, it looked like a masterpiece.

"I made it in metalwork, it's called Brotherhood, cause, you know…" Tidus' voice trailed off as he rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed at the attention he was receiving.

"Tidus, this is awesome. Really, seriously, this is fucking incredible. Thank you." Sora couldn't say much more, he had always thought of the boy as his sibling, so alike were they.

"Well, uh… Don't stop now, got a lot of presents, right?" Tidus coughed, then pushed another forward, where the tag proclaimed it Roxas'.

It was well wrapped, if slightly oddly shaped. _Thought you needed a new look. Roxas._

"Clothes?" He asked, to which his nobody only shrugged.

Ten seconds later, the room was in an uproar as Sora held up his new item with equal parts confusion and growing dismay. It was not that the present was bad, as per se, indeed, it was considered extremely fashionable on the right people. How it would be considered on Sora, however, was open to debate, seeing as Roxas had given him a shocking black dress with a very provocative neckline.

"Eh… Roxas, is there something you should be telling me?" Sora's mouth was twitching at the edges, trying not to laugh.

"I must have put the tag on the wrong present…" Roxas slapped his forehead in the universal sign of absentmindedness.

"Then who was supposed to get this one?" Namine prodded him in the side, prising only an embarrassed chuckle from Roxas as he gathered up the offending article and folded it gently back into its protective bag.

"If you ain't too busy…" Barret tossed a small package at Sora's head, bouncing it off his forehead. Further unwrapping revealed a chrome-black cellphone, cruelly efficient in its curves and design.

"Isn't this…?"

"Yeah, it's the same make that Cloud uses. Make sure you actually answer the damn thing, fool! Chicken-head's a problem in that department." Barret growled, but his eyes were soft.

"Knowing the place you'll stick this if I didn't, I wouldn't dare!" Sora beamed.

The next gift was tagged _We'll get you to visit through blackmail or bribe, you can't win! V + A & P._

Sora opened the lid, withdrawing free-booking airship tickets to Rabanastre, a voucher covering a year's subscription at the local gym-slash-dance-club and a book entitled _Synthesizing for dummies_. The Kayak in the hall was being left until the river twenty kilometers east ceased to flood.

"Heh, cool! But seriously, guys, I'll make a trip as soon as the midsummer is over! What should I expect?"

"Sun!" Penelo cried happily.

"Sand!" Ashe called out.

"Sexy chicks!" Vaan slapped Sora on the shoulder, earning glares from Penelo and Kairi.

The mound of presents had shrunk slightly, but yet again the brunette dove into the remaining pile with gusto. He withdrew a flat, neatly wrapped gift with the writing _Because you need it. With love, Nami._

A calligraphy set, all fine nib pens and soft, firm paper with a small repetition booklet faced the light of the room, resulting in thanks and a small hug for Namine, of whom Sora was rather fond.

Selphie and Quistis bought a couple of Dvds, Shrek the Third and the Ring trilogy most prominent in their selection. Feni's present was a watch that, for some reason, told the phases of the moon in an inset. Lulu's gift was a stuffed moggle doll that could fetch and carry on command, so long as the materia within was kept charged. While Riku…

Riku stood forward, holding a small, wooden sword. A child's weapon, useless now in his hands, but Sora held it with a reverence that made his knees tremble and his eyes brim with half-shed tears.

"This is…"

"Leon found this outside the castle library in Hollow Bastion. I've been keeping it safe till today, brings back memories, don't you think?" Riku gave a twitch in his mouth that might have been a smile.

"Yeah, I can still play hero with this, I think." Sora gave his sword an experimental swipe and hung the hilt over his shoulder. "Thanks, man."

"Anytime. Oh, and Leon said that that finding it was his present. Says its payback for when you stumbled into… what did he call it? His little Rinny-poo reunion?"

"I don't remember anything about that."

"Perfect." came a voice from the doorway. Further inspection in that direction revealed a man in his mid twenties, lean but well-proportioned, tall and slightly imposing. His smile was like the appearance of an angel, and just as rare, while the scar crossing the bridge of his nose was the perfect identifier.

Summed up in single words, this man was a warrior, a loner (With the possible exception of 'Rinny-poo') and a leader.

"Leon!" Sora leapt up from his place in the ripped piles of wrapping paper and bounded towards the gruff man, giving him a playful punch to the shoulder. Until a hand blurred from the chest and intercepted it, the fist might have actually made contact.

"Amateur." Leons face did not change as he twisted Sora's arm behind his back.

"Give the kid a break, Squall." A young, ebony-haired woman with a scrawny figure covered in leather stepped next to him and placed a finger down Leon's spine, the upshot being the release of Sora and the slight giggle from Penelo.

The woman, who we shall assume has the name of Yuffie Kisaragi, even if she does not, then proceeded to grab Sora's cheeks and pull slightly, to which the sounds of 'Whawhawhah.' came from his mouth.

"Hey, Yuffie." Sora finally spoke once her fingers had been prised from his flesh. "Cloud and the rest can't come?"

"Sorry. They wanted to, but something came up."

"That's fine."

"Sora, would you mind introducing us?" Kairi appeared at Sora's elbow, nudging him to refresh his memory that he was among friends that his other friends had no idea of him even knowing, and that his friends likewise did not know his other friends in the slightest manner whatsoever.

Kairi was extremely talented at nudging, and could input vast amounts of information into her elbows.

"Um, okay, Kairi, this is Yuffie Kisaragi…"

"This is Kairi? The one who you were moaning about in your sleep when we met?" Yuffie shook Kairi's hand as she ran the line into the air, ignoring the wolf whistles from Tidus and Wakka.

"I guess I am." Kairi smiled slightly, before shifting around with an open gesture and brining Yuffie to the full sight of the others, idly wondering when Sora would find the Paopu fruit on his pillow, it had taken all week to find. "The one with the Jimmy Neutron haircut is Wakka, the one picking his nose is Vaan-"

"I'm scratching it!"

"-Whatever, the one with all the black is Lulu…"

Kairi continued the introductions, while Riku slipped behind the horde and met up with Sora and Leon, who continued to talk about the progress of the restoration at Radiant Garden.

The events of the previous day forgotten already, and surrounded by the companions of his life, past and previous, Sora was glad, there on his birthday.

Unfortunately, none could forsee the events of the next few days…

* * *

_Right, on to the next one!_


	11. By Blood and Bone

_All right, torture scene! Need reviews here, 'cause I dunno if this is any good._

* * *

This room, Naba decided, was built with one purpose in mind:

To break the very soul of whoever was on the wrong side.

As rooms went, it looked like any other on one half. The walls were softly fashioned and curving towards the ceiling, the lights were well-made and glowing in a fluorescent manner that reminded him of the caves he had explored as a child in Kep-has'te. The seats over on the half closest to the door were the new bubble models, a design incorporating a strong oily substance that formed into a supporting group of suds as the wearer sank into it, massaging the muscles using a vibro-mechanism powered by the users waste body heat. It was comfort defined.

Naba mused that once,_he_ was the one on that side of the room. Now, Titan-grade restraints and a ten centimeter thick pane of glass divided him from his past life. Now he was the one hooked up to a blood-substitute and plasma submersion stream, having his flesh stripped away layer by bloody layer, then having his thoughts inspected by the _Ei'nevae_ for any clues to the location of his sister as his mind reeled from the horror of watching his own intestines flop out of his abdomen…

He would have smiled at the irony, but his mouth could no longer move from the skewer thrust through his cheeks. He might have laughed, but his mouth was filled with a compound that boasted phosphoric acid as the primary ingredient. He had tasted fresh blood for over an hour as the concoction began to dissolve his teeth, but he had been vomiting blood for half a day, now. Not surprising, as when the Inquisitus Ordum realized that Naba's lungs were not receiving the air requiring by his body to sustain him through the trauma, they requisitioned a life-support mechanism to drill two holes through his back and into his lungs, activating an ultrafine-mesh to oxygenate his blood directly.

Five wires ran over his scald, implanting probes into his brain to inject a strange mix of drugs designed to prevent the neuropathways marked within from allowing Naba to create a magicka grid to escape, and staying him from the warm cocoon of sleep with static shocks when his alpha brainwaves changed. His eyes were no longer white, apart from the pupils; everything had sunk into a lively platinum as he was forced to become the Avatar of the clan to keep himself alive.

The combined result was that everything, his body, his mind, his spirit; was being stretched to the utmost limit to hold the co-ordinates of Sora's world from his captures.

_I can't keep this up… and besides, Djava is being detained under suspicion of releasing possible insurgents back to their home dimension. The longer I hold out, the more likely she will have me put to death to clear her name… _Naba's thoughts were floating around, uncontrolled now. He had become used to the ritual: His flesh was stripped; the psychers would rip into his mind with a fanatical fervor, looking for the dimensional directions to the Destiny Islands, he would be left for an hour for his fluids to be replaced, then it would all begin again…

The door on the other side slid open, revealing a young-looking Inquisitor dressed in a showy display, all gleaming weaponry and showpiece armour. His Halo-rune determined him to at least of _Tak'mah_ rank, so there was certainly some brains behind the pomp and glitter, Naba felt.

"Avatar most high, you honour me with your presence." He gave a twittering laugh after the traditional greeting as two psychers in their ceramic masks and lilac robes took their place on his right with a Techmage taking position behind the desk on the other side.

Naba remained starring at the man, trying to remember what his name was. The long hours had shredded his memory and broken his mind, he couldn't think clearly.

"I trust you have enjoyed your stay with us, I do hope you will recommend us to your sister once she arrives."

_Enjoyed… I'm going to be relocated to another chamber?_

"But alas, unless you would care to disclose her location, we cannot give her the grand welcome that undoubtedly befits her station…"

_Disgusting little tit. Seems to like the sound of his own voice._

"And seeing as you are no longer able to speak, we will be sending you to a most wonderful place to facilitate your quick recovery."

_Thought so…_

"However, we could not possibly let one of your stature depart without a parting gift, so… Techmage! Open his armplate, about three _Djevs_ upwards of his elbow."

The Titan apparatus was a fully controllable full-body restraining unit, originally designed as a massive war-walker, a giant robot directed from within by meshing the user's spinal column with a silicon adapter. Now, the cockpit was used as a life-sized strait-jacket for the Avatar, and the metal covering over his arm unlocked and slid into a compartment hidden in the shoulder.

"Done, _Vasi._ Orders?" The techmage turned back to his superior.

"Cut it off."

"_Vasi?_"

"His arm. Sever it."

The techmage blinked, before slowly and deliberately inputting the commands into the console in front of him, sending fearful looks at the Avatar.

Naba's eyes bloated with terror as a burr-wheel descended from the ceiling, analyzing the angle from which to slice the limb. The arm was already in a sorry state, glistening muscle shone without skin in the half-light from across the room, the slight purple of a tendon could be seen as the saw plunged into his limb, changing its sinister whine slightly as it began carving through the bone.

_I'LLTALKMAKEITSTOPI'LLKILLYOUI'LLKILLYOUI'LLKILLYOU!!!!_ Naba's mind screamed at the Psychers, gibbering madly as the blade ceased to spin and withdrew back into the ceiling. The techmage was busy vomiting over the floor of the other room at the sight of the half-detached arm, marrow spongey and oozing out the wound as blood poured from his severed vessels. His life-fluid splattered over the glass and dripped down to the floor.

"What are the co-ordinates?" The inquisitor motioned the mage to detach the spike from the prisoner's mouth and empty the acid.

"_Talha… Gen… Puos… Caal… Hyth… Eron… Wasanda… Okin." _Naba croaked, his lips flapping weakly as the servos in his unit began replacing his bone.

"Is that Hyth with the _Kaldek, _or without?"

"Without." Naba began to sob, "It's keyed to my family line, you can't open it without my blood."

"We don't intend to open it, in fact, we might use a little of your blood to send a message to your traitorous sister. And if she brings the Hae'l children with her, all the better." The inquisitor gave a quiet chuckle as Naba's face began to pale from shock.

"We will wait here for your kin, ready to condemn her to the fate that rightfully belongs to you."

"Vermin! _Hae'l Sylvae ku iu'van!_" Naba shouted in his growing madness.

"_We_ are the vermin? My apologies, Avatar, but may I point out that this method of torture, this fine Order, even the ranks and initiation tests and frequent prayers of forgiveness from the Eternal one… You created them all." The inquisitor reminded, "You taught me personally how to break a heart, but leave the body whole, how to keep a man on the brink of life and lunacy till he sung like a Harpy. Just because you are finally feeling the ire of your own methods, Avatar, does not mean that the people using them on you are evil."

Naba stayed silent. The man's words rang true.

"And now, Avatar, we will depart. You have reached the end of your stay here and are to be trialed and sentenced for theo-treason and attempted deicide as soon as you are able to stand. Techmage!"

"Yes, _Vasi?_" The Sylvaen's voice was weak, his wings quivering visibily.

"We need some of his flesh to draw out his kin. Use this." Here the inquisitor withdrew a cruelly serrated dagger from his thigh sheath. "I grow tired of the hypocrisy this one spouts, remove his tongue."

"But… _Vasi… _I cannot-" The mage stuttered, backing away from the evil instrument

"Remove it, or lose your own. I do not want doubters in our ranks."

"But… I... As you wish, _Vasi._" The man held the knife like it would explode, trembling as the Psychers left with the Inquisitor. He opened a panel in the glass and walked through, making a half-hearted sign of apology in the runes above his head.

"I am sorry,_Hamo'diven_."

The halls of the Inquisitus Ordum sang shrill with the gurgling screams of the Avatar for hours afterwards.

* * *

_The next one will be done shortly.  
_

Translations:

_Ei'venae_ – Shadow Clan Members. The Shadow clan specializes in the sense of smell and telepathy, and in the magickas of the body and light-bending. Not an evil clan, but usually produces extremely cunning individuals who end up astute in many subjects such as politics and business. The best Psychers come from the Shadow Clan.

_Tak'mah_ – Strong eye. The seventh rank of nine in the Inquititus Ordum. Quite difficult to attain this rank, usually administers to paperwork more than actual interrogation.

_Vasi_ – Elder. A way to refer to your superiors, not as ass-kissing as _Chuisi_.

_Talha_ ect – Each syllable refers to a specific co-ordinate in dimensional shifting, the first eight determine the type of world (The First determines the body: Moon, Planet, Gas giant etc, The second determines the habitability, the third determines the composition of the air and ground, the forth determines the extent of civilization upon the planet, and the other four refer to the natural resources.) and the rest determine the location of the portal-gate you wish to arrive from. There is only one Portal gate between T'en and Destiny Islands, but there are others to other areas. Not to be confused with the darkness portals used by the Organisation members or the Gummi ship.

_Kaldek_ – A small line down the side of a rune. Used to determine the emphasis.

_Hae'l Sylvae ku iu'van!_ – Unpure Sylvaen without a soul. Translation here is difficult.

_Hamo'diven_ – Shining One. Polite way to refer to an Avatar.


	12. From Heaven with love

_Okay, big thanks to Evil Riggs for reviewing every frickin' chapter I have. I'm probably going to have to overhaul the entire thing, but not yet. I'm too lazy._

* * *

_Schlang!_

Sora kept a firm hold on his blade as Kairi hooked the Oathkeeper's tip into the Ultima's flank, shifting his body to prevent his friend from yanking it away and pulling her in closer. This was a training match that he didn't want to lose.

The resulting tug of war caused beads of sweat to appear on their faces, with Sora's strong arms stalemating Kairi's more aggressive stance.

Suddenly, Kairi disengaged her weapon from his, and leaped back, twirling the blade a few times to get the feel of it back. Sora took his chance and leapt, turning the spring into a slide as he hit the ground, a wicked swing curving out at knee height. Kairi had seen the trick before, however, and hopped over the strike, neatly placing a hand on her adversary's forehead and vaulted over, twisting her body like a cat to deliver a rising cut with her free hand as she sailed over his back.

Metal met flesh, and Sora's arm sported a most becoming bruise that wouldn't fade for several days.

"Touch!" The young man cried, holding his hand out in supplication, fishing inside one of his enormous pockets for a potion, popping the lid and drenching his arm in the liquid, sighing as the heated throbbing ebbed away.

"You're losing touch, more like." Kairi gave a small smile, "I _did_ tell you to watch what you were eating at Christmas, but no…"

"What are you, my mother?" Sora joked, rolling his shoulders and picking up his keyblade.

Kairi remained silent, before rustling his hair. "I still can't believe you actually met Santa Claus, why didn't you say something earlier? I had to wait until your other friends-"

"Donald and Goofy." Sora reminded.

"-Yeah, they had to tell me about that. Did you tell Riku?" Kairi waved a hand in the teen's direction, where a heated training bout with Yuffie was taking place in a small clearing out in the forest that bordered the manor grounds.

"That can wait. Come on, I wanna see this." Sora grabbed her arm in passing and tugged her to the perimeter of the square scuffed out only ten minutes ago. The scene was slightly chaotic; Riku was on the defensive, using his curved keyblade to rebound the shurikens that Yuffie was flinging with impunity. The black-haired ninja wasn't letting up, catching the throwing stars as they embedded themselves in the dirt, flipping over and disappearing in a cloud of smoke whenever Riku sent a dark Firaga at her.

The cloud burst again, the fireballs flying to fizzle out at the edge of the square as they hit the Shell magic that Barret had set up while Riku growled in frustration.

"Prissy Ninja Brat!" He cried out, flinging his blade onto the ground and folding his arms.

Yuffie took advantage of his tantrum by rushing out of the smoke and delivering a swift punch to Riku's stomach, catching him on the chin with an elbow as he doubled over trying to regain his breath. She jumped back before springing forward again, her arms a blur as they continued to pummel into his form.

"Wolf…" she muttered, trying to keep her blows accurate as the haste materia took effect.

"Fang…" She crouched down, holding her two front fingers stiff on each hand as she rapidly struck into his sides, folding him.

"Fi- Hey!" She felt her calf get squeezed before her body was snapped straight as Riku flung her form in a circle, letting go when the momentum dictated that she be launched at a handy tree outside the square. Yuffie rolled in the air, landing with her feet against the trunk and bounced back at her sparring partner, both of them crashing to the ground in disarray. Yuffie initiated a fearsome headbutt against Riku's own, but a glistening shield sprung into view, colliding with her attack with an audible _Clong_.

Riku seized her little arms as she reeled, pinning her beneath him and twisting her limbs behind her back.

On her stomach, her arms and legs folded and a man's elbow crushing into the pressure point on her spine, Yuffie had to admit, things could be better…

"Easy there, you two! Don't go killing each other now!" Sora called out from the sidelines.

"Give up?" Riku drawled into her ear.

"Not on your life, Sephiroth!" She spat.

"Sephi… What?" Riku's grip loosened slightly.

"Gotcha!" Yuffie cried triumphantly, rolling until her foe lost his balance and let go of her. She pushed herself off the ground with her hands, angling until she felt her feet collide with a part of his body. Her ankle twisted and she cried out in pain, limping around to sweep up her huge hand-to-hand shuriken, ready to battle.

Instead, she started sniggering at the sight of Riku on his knees, eyes shut in exclusively male agony as he held his hands over his groin. Sora's eyes watered in sympathy before he too joined in the laughter.

"That… was below… the belt…" Riku squeaked, stretching an arm to point a finger in her direction.

"Anything goes, I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie!" she countered, sticking out her tongue in mockery. Riku grunted and got to his feet, wobbling slightly as he leaned against a handy pine, kicking his legs to get the circulation going again. Pulling off his shirt, he began to inspect his body for the numerous small cuts inflicted by Yuffie's 'little wonders', his singlet underneath showing little splashes of dark ruby against the white cotton. His vanquisher sat down on a stump in the clearing and rubbed her ankle to prevent the swelling.

"I think that was tied." Kairi voiced, "Riku would've won if he hadn't lost concentration."

"But he lost concentration, I think that would count for something." Sora pointed out.

Yuffie's head perked up, "Wait, you mean you guys are keeping tally? That blows!"

"Ever since the day me and Riku started racing along the beach, we've all been keeping tally." Kairi rolled her eyes at Sora's boasting. "I've been keeping tally, you mean. You get lost when you run out of fingers, remember?" She remarked half to herself, leaving a grumbling keyblade master to pout behind her.

"So, how was the thing with the police?" Riku questioned.

"It was fine; we just had to tell them that it was either teleporting or having to wait in a place infested with Heartless. Tike understood." Sora lay back on the grass, gasping with surprise as Kairi decided to follow suit and rest her head on his stomach.

"I thought the claymore devices on the road took care of them?" Yuffie continued to rub her ankle.

"That's the thing, someone or something's been tinkering with them, it'll take a week to get those things up and running again. Till then, we can't use that road, and it's the only way back home!"

"What, so no school, no homework, just lazing about with our friends for a week? Awesome!" Riku punched the air with cheerful vigour.

"Really? Hmmm…" Yuffie stood to test her foot, wincing a little as she bounced on it. "That'll do." She muttered, before gingerly walking over to where Kairi was closing her eyes and popping down her head on Sora's chest, the boy in question going _ooph_ at the extra weight.

"Hey, this one's mine! Go find your own Keyblade master!" Kairi prodded Yuffie in the side.

"Nah, he's not to my tastes." Yuffie jerked a thumb in Riku's direction, who snorted. "But then again, what are the guys here like?"

"Well, Tidus is the island's bike, Wakka's taken, Irvine's taken, Vaan's already got two gunning for him, so I'd stay well clear…"

Riku continued to apply a small curing spell to his flesh as he listened to the girls with only half an ear.

"…Basch and Balthier and Baralai are hot, but they're, like, twenty three or something. So I think the only good ones left are Gippal…"

"He any good?"

"Do you like blondes?"

"Check." Yuffie mimed adding a mark in midair.

"How do you feel about eyepatches?" Kairi shifted further back on Sora's abdomen.

"As in 'Pirate' or 'Try-hard'?"

"Hard to tell, he's never taken it off."

"Guess they're okay."

"What about dogs?" Kairi pushed herself even further back, arcing over her friend's belly, stretching her arms.

"Love them!" Yuffie pretended to squeeze a small canine.

"Right, I think you two would work out, I guess."

"Hey, no playing matchmaker, that never works out!" Yuffie began to copy Kairi, oblivious to Sora's protests that he was finding it hard to breathe.

"Well, there's always Riku…" Kairi winked at Yuffie, before dropping to a whisper as the two began covertly conversing.

Riku paused as he heard his name, frowning as he watched the girls, though his lips twitched a little at the unhappy look on Sora's face. His frown doubled as he caught words like _really small_ and _can't commit_ and…

Sora mouthed out_They're joking_ two or three times so that Riku would get the idea, laughing quietly before getting an elbow in the stomach for shaking Yuffie off.

Riku shrugged, before picking up his shirt and making his way back to the Manor.

* * *

"CANNONBALL!!"

Wakka shielded his face as Ashe slammed into the centre of the pool, shaking his head clear of water as the backwash went over him. Penelo and Vaan chased her around in the water, splashing needlessly and ignoring Selphies whining about her wet shirt as she tried to soak up the heat on a deckchair.

The day was too warm to spend inside, so the birthday boy and his little gang had opted to train instead, but the others thought the time was better spent trying to cool off. So with Barret starting to get around to fixing the icemaker and Feni succeeding in refilling the pool with the hose, the fresh fluid was too much for most to bear.

Wakka floated on his back in the water, grinning to himself as he heard Selphie telling off the Cowboy for starring at her wet shirt. Irvine's protests in the negative were quickly hushed by getting shoved into the pool. The water rushed up Wakka's nose and he snorted, standing upright to clear his sneezer.

A hand gripped his leg and flipped him over into the water, Wakka working a small magic to extract the oxygen from the water in the back of his throat. Opening his eyes, he saw Tidus hastily swimming away as Wakka gave chase, trying to give his little stooge a well-deserved noggie.

Instead, he felt the water grow steadily chillier. When he actually started to shiver, Wakka broke through the surface and hopped quickly onto the edge surrounding the pool, wrapping a towel around himself as he searched for…

"Lu, that wasn't nice." He whined, trying to make a puppy-dog face.

"No swimming after snacking for an hour." Lulu cancelled the blizzard spell that she'd used as the others began to complain about the temperature. Dressed in a one-piece swimsuit and a pair of shorts, Lulu should have been swimming; instead she was reclining on the chair and studying up on her magic semester.

"Yeah, but no-one listens to that, ya?" Wakka sulked, before turning to watch Vaan wrestling under the water with Penelo. The little blondes seemed to be doing well, whenever Vaan seemed to get a proper grip on his friend, she'd slip out of his grasp like a jellied eel, trying to get an arm around his neck as he thrashed around.

Ashe jumped into their midst again, and Wakka noticed that the timing couldn't have been better if she'd planned it, Vaan and Penelo were starting to tire and had started to hug each other for support before the big splash. Once again, the trio would begin chasing each other around until they ran out of breath.

"Just like puppies, ya?" Wakka told himself.

"She's worried." Lulu voiced out of the blue.

"What's that?"

"Our host, she's still pacing in the library." Lulu pointed to a second story window where, indeed, Feni was walking in circles, twitching the curtain open and looking down at the pool at random intervals.

"Well, she said he'd be fine."

"I believe she was saying that for her benefit as much as ours." The black mage cast a dark glance at the window.

"Well, Barret doesn't seem to mind."

Indeed, the large man was sitting under an umbrella and mixing himself a Scotch on the Rocks, taking ginger sips as he relaxed.

"He has his reasons, but have you noticed that Namine and Roxas are miss…"

A loud buzzing swamped the ears of all present, and eyes turned to the strange circle that had appeared over the pool, greenish-white lines forming and twisting into alien words that hovered over the edge. The circle shrunk suddenly, a small orb dropped through the centre, and disappeared with a loud _bang_.

"What the hell was that?" Irvine cried, moving forward to grab the thing that had fallen out.

"Don't touch it! Everyone, out of the pool now!" Feni shouted from the second story, while Barret began lifting the kids out.

"Never fails." He grumbled, before looking at the almost organic globe with curiosity as it bobbed in the ripples.

Feni slammed open the door and dived into the water, fully clothed. She lifted the device with caution, beckoning to Barret as she walked into the hall, telling the kids to stay outside.

Riku, however, had just walked inside the hall and would not budge until she told him what it was.

"An Inquisitorium capsule, Naba used to have a lot of these stashed around somewhere." She spoke softly, carrying it into her room. Riku paused, electing to wait outside as Barret shouldered past.

Five minutes passed in silence, before Riku heard the muffled sobs of Feni and a constant thumping. Opening the door, he saw that the capsule had peeled like a banana to reveal a fresh tongue on the study bench, with a note written in the alien script beside it. Barret had a comforting hand on Feni's shoulder as she punched the table repeatedly, her knuckles beginning to bleed.

"Stupid… Stupid sonuvafuckingbitch!!" She yelled, shaking off Barret as she stormed up to Riku, slapping him in the face.

"Thanks to you, my brother is going to die in five days!" She screamed as Riku held a hand to his face in shock. Barret held back her arms, but she still tried to kick Riku in rage.

"They had nothing to do with it! They're kids! Control yourself!!" Barret pleaded for reason from behind her.

Eventually, Feni ran out of steam, breaking down and crying as she fell to her knees. "Stupid… Idiot… Foolish…" She managed to utter, her eyes screwed shut as the tears fell.

"I think we'll need to give her some time." Barret lifted Feni into a firemans hoist, holding her close as she beat his chest in sorrow.

Riku still had his had on his cheek, before looking again at the contents on the table. His stomach turned as the reality of what had happened occurred to him.

"We've got to tell Sora."

* * *

_I need reviews from other people, dangit!  
_


	13. Finding the way

_Call me a procrastinator, and I will hurt you._

_Also on the agenda, I'm looking for a Beta reader!! _

* * *

"_I'll kill you!_"

"Somebody grab her, she's gone crazy!"

Sora's mind began to spin from the lack of oxygen; the red rumble of his heart began to pound though his neck, halting as it collided with Feni's lithe hands as they fastened around his wind pipe, squeezing ever harder and harder.

He could see Riku and Yuffie prying her off, the two latching their elbows around her shoulderblades and nearly ripping her off in an endeavor to stop her from ending his life. He felt the pressure subside as she began clawing at anyone within range, screaming of death and suffering in an animal whine.

He could see Kairi, feel her hands working a soothing cure spell over the bruises just beginning to form from the attack, could see Yuffie pulling back her arms and delivering a weighted punch to Feni's left temple, stunning the little… whatever she was into submission.

But Kairi… by the key, he could see her blue eyes hazing with concern, he could smell her, like honey and paopu and hazelnut and _so many good things and he wanted her…_

He lifted a hand to hers, holding it tight as he tried to remember what he'd done to deserve her in his life.

"I'm… okay." Sora croaked, trying to lift himself to his elbows, only to have his girl push him back down gently. Waving her off, using her hand to pull himself off the dining room floor and back to his knees as Feni once again started to bare her teeth, launching herself again and again at the boy she hated, the boy she saw responsible for the death of her brother, only to be stopped short by a well placed boot in the gut from Yuffie and Riku both.

Finally, bleeding from nose and mouth, Feni resorted to simply glaring at the boy, fists clenching and teeth stained by her own blood.

"Please, Feni, this won't help us to rescue your brother-" Sora started.

"Who says we're going to rescue him?" Roxas piped up from behind him, earning a puzzled look from the Keyblade bearer.

"He's in trouble, of course we've got to rescue him!" His other shot back, indignant at the Nobodies disregard for life.

"But can we? That's the point I'm trying to make, remember what happened last time? We had our asses handed to us and that woman wasn't even trying, least, that's what Feni said." Roxas folded his arms, locking wills with Sora as Namine sighed at the testosterone running wild.

"We'll be better prepared next ti-"

"There's not going to be a next time." Barret rumbled from across the room. "I don't want to have to break the news to your folks that you died trying to save a murderer from his execution!"

"And I'm not going to take you there. They're waiting for us. _We can't prepare to fight gods, kids_." Feni's voice was low and terrible, her eyes blood-rimmed and still glaring at Sora. "And the only reason I would go is to see your bastard fucking heart impaled on a pike like my brother _because that's whatthey'lldotohimandI'llkillyou!!_" With that, she turned on Riku and snapped his middle finger back, biting him in the shoulder and pulling hard, ripping a chunk of flesh and spitting it out, flipping her legs to lash out at Yuffie's neck before finally taking advantage of the chaos to open her hands and pounce at Sora, her smile as cruel as…

A blast of magical fire erupted from Namine's hands and smashed her into the marble pillar supporting the balcony above, snapping her head back and stunning her. Feni began to slide to the floor, a miserable excuse of a living, breathing thing that shuddered and sobbed.

"Keep this up, and there is no hope you'll see your brother." Leon spoke simply as he helped Riku up, holding a strip of cloth to the boy's shoulder as Namine hurried over, healing magics at the ready.

"There never was any." Feni's voice was now monotonous, her eyes staring at nothing. "We don't know where he is, he'll be under custodian guard, he'll be executed in five days, and there's nothing you, I, or anyone can do."

"Well…" Kairi's voice was uncertain, but a look at the sullen faces in the room seemed to give her a determination. "… I think we can prove you wrong."

Silence reigned, and Sora's hand began snaking back to hers, encouraging her to continue.

"Have you ever heard of the heart of all worlds? The place where light and darkness live together, being there to bring life to the planet?" Kairi continued, "It has done so much for us, the worlds have a will that aids us and makes the impossible happen. I once went to a world where I turned into a mermaid, and another where I turned into a lion. If we trust the worlds…"

"You will be disappointed; it takes more than wings to be Sylvaen. The language, the rote of duty, the honourific system, the changes of speech depending on the time of day, the traditions, the security measures, the clan markings and the motions… You kids know nothing about it!"

"But you do. That's why we need you." Namine's soft voice flew through the air.

"I can't go back, they would kill me. I don't want to die."

"You won't. I promise." Sora held out his hand, a simple, optimistic smile on his face. "I promise, we'll rescue your brother, and bring you both back safely to live with all of us, your friends, here on the Destiny Islands."

Feni looked at the hand like it might explode, looked at everyone around her, even at Riku, who didn't look at all like he blamed her, though his shoulder was still bleeding freely.

She reached for the hand, and pulled herself up.

"I'll hold you to that." She said simply.

* * *

"So, what do we do?"

Time had happened; a few hours for the gang to clean up and heal from the extreme tantrums had improved the mood considerably.

"First, I'm going to outline the path we're taking. We'll need to cross into the T'en world-span via three different dimensional gates, Sap'te, Kep'she and Sok'te." Here Feni underlined three circles connected with a line that she had drawn on a piece of A4.

"Getting through those will be easy, they were never well defended to begin with, we'll just need to find an unguarded portal-breach and jump through. Not hard. The trick lies in getting through the borderportal post _here-_" Her pen circled a stylized stickman holding a gun on its shoulder at the third circle, symbolizing a main portal checkpoint. "I don't know how we'll pass for Sylvaen once we get here, and they'll check us out, especially me, any ideas?"

"I think I could help, Court Magician Donald taught me how to change the shape to the natural form of those who inhabit the worlds we visit before he left for the Disney Castle." Namine spoke again, her arms draped around Roxas' shoulders.

"Oooookay, I suppose they won't be expecting that."

"How are we going to find his cell or whatever?" Yuffie spoke up from the far corner of the table.

"Whoa, hang on, how many of us are going?" Riku challenged her, "You aren't coming!"

"Says who?" Yuffie countered, placing her fists on the wood and leaning forward, face locked in a scowl.

Riku matched her movements, bringing himself onward to look her in the eye until their noses were touching. "I do."

"Those who want to come can come. That doesn't include you guys listening at the door." Roxas yelled, and sure enough the sounds of rapid detachment and complaints about splinters erupted from the other side, quickly turning into noises of scampering and Penelo's complaints about Wakka's noisy breathing.

Yuffie and Riku were still nose to nose, the air between them heating slowly from the steel-willed battle. Finally, Riku broke, 'pfft'ing in irritation and retaking his seat, not looking at the ninja who was waving the two fingered salute at all present.

"So Sora, Kairi, Riku, Namine, me, Yuffie… Leon?" Roxas gave Leon a glance, but a shake of the head seemed to disprove that.

"You're alone in this, I'm sorry." Was all the man said.

"Wow, Leon, that's… pretty cold. Even for you." Yuffie pouted at the man, hands on hips (Though he couldn't see them, the ninja's chair was so short that only her shoulders and head were currently visible.).

"I have responsibilities, Yuffie." Leon smiled at something amusing. "I may finally come to understand what Lord Godo meant, after all." And with no further explanation to his cryptic comments, exited the room. The fact that he mildly concussed an eavesdropping Selphie as he left rather spoiled the dramatic feel, but Leon knew better than to let a moment like that slide.

"What's he talking about your dad for?" Sora said.

"Your guess is as good as mine, kid. So, Feni, the rest of the plans?"

"That's it." Feni shrugged.

The members of the room looked at her in disbelief.

"So, we get through a couple of worlds, pass the checkpoint, and that's it?" Riku voiced the opinions of the room, his tone incredulous.

"We can't plan for anything after that. They would have moved him somewhere else, and I haven't the faintest notion where that would be."

Silence reigned supreme for a good minute.

"This is crazy."

* * *

Time had passed again, as it is wont to do.

The sun was setting, the dusk in full swing, illuminating the tennis court out the back of manor in a mandarin glow, the soft colours of the dark mixing to the sharp relief of twilight.

And here, where the net should be, a circle stood wrapped in glowing white lines, each symbol around the circumference pulsing as if to excel its importance beyond all others. A young figure, vaguely female in its outline was walking back and forth, moving a rune here, adding a direction there, performing the ritual of _Hokat-met_, or 'Setting-of-primes'.

A few metres away, those not going were faring well those who were, though some had doubts of the sanity of those leaving.

"Can't believe you're actually going through with this…" Barret muttered, before giving Riku one last handshake before shoving him towards the glyph.

"Sora's set on being a hero, so, obviously, the rest of us are getting dragged along." Riku shrugged, "Though I don't know why _she_ had to come." He gave a sour look in Yuffies direction, where the ebony haired girl was still fussing over the points on her shuriken.

"She's a ninja." Barret's tone made it sound like those three words explained everything.

"She's just loud."

Riku stomped off to join the others, who were trading hugs and goodbyes and promises to bring back souvenirs and all their limbs. They hadn't bothered to change their clothes (Feni claimed she could steal some robes once they hit a town) and looked a little shabby, not exactly becoming of heroes.

Kairi and Sora detached from the throng a little while before to check on their supplies, claiming that one could never go overprepared.

"Potions?"

Sora reached into a giant pocket and retrieved a few Mega class items, holding them out for inspection. "Check."

"Elixers?"

"Riku's got 'em."

"Ethers?"

"Namine."

"Rations?"

"Yuffie."

"And I've got the tents, that's the lot!" Kairi looked a little disappointed. "It's hard to feel prepared when all you need for a mission is a bunch of little bottles and cubes."

"I know, ain't it great?" Sora beamed, making Kairi groan as she began walking back to the others, leaving a confused Sora to trail behind her.

"What's wrong? You sick?"

"It's nothing."

"You're giving the shoulder, Kai. What's wrong?"

"I just told you, nothing!" Kairi snapped.

"Sora! Kairi! We're going!" Roxas yelled from across the court, and sure enough the gate was active, great streams of energy were flowing in and out while the breach barrier whined and gibbered on the circumference.

Walking in an awkward silence, the two young keybarers rejoined the group that would soon be entering lands that no human had ever seen.

"Right, Namine, I hope you aren't joking about doing the wing-thingy." Feni gave a small look of distrust, and then waved her hand at the portal. "All aboard who's going aboard!"

Slowly, steadily, the group walked into the portal, possibly to doom.

* * *

"What the hell happened here?!" Riku cried as they stepped into the new world.

Feni had described the world-span of Sap-Has'te as 'Quite a peaceful little place. Mostly a collection of towns and small cities with an occasional science community and Prayer-temples. Other than that, forest, plains and the odd rolling hillscape.'

What they saw was a battlefield that stretched to the horizon and beyond, judging from the red horizon that spread like the worst of all Shepherd's warnings. Craters pockmarked the flat grasslands as wildfires sprouted like orange lilies among the humanoid corpses, consuming all in the aftermath of whatever apocalypse had befallen the land.

"Figures, I leave for six years and the Sylvaen start losing ground. Typical…" Feni muttered, uncaring of the desolation that ravaged the countryside. "Give me a minute to shut down the portal grid. Don't what any scavengers finding out about home, do we?"

At that moment, the thing shirt that Feni wore on her back shifted and ripped open, revealing a pair of speckled brown wings that curved and shuddered as they gathered energy from the air while their master began contorting the reality grid that kept the portal alive.

"I thought we were just going to waltz through this part…" Roxas muttered as he sat down, recoiling when he touched the charred remains of an arm, its owner was thankfully nowhere to be seen.

Namine nodded, before turning to work the magical boon that would mold the six teenagers into the denizens of the world. A flash of light, a feeling of the entire world going _blorp_, and the teens found themselves feeling very light-headed on the ground with a very powerful itch spreading like crazy over their backs.

"Whoa… lets do that again! Again Again!" Sora giggled in a girly fashion as he looked around.

"Hey, Namine, what's with the new threads?" He looked everyone over, wondering how Kairi's usual red an white dress had transformed into a long, graceful affair of indigo robes that showed very little flesh from the neck down.

_Wow, she really does have tiny hands…_

Sora gave a look at himself. Apparently he was wearing some kind of itchy material as opposed to Kairi's silken overthings, an Earthy brown that mixed into his spiky hair, quite hard to move in beyond a steady walk, as he soon discovered by tripping over a pair of rusted callipers.

Roxas and Namine were simply dressed in tight-fitting mother-of-pearl togas, while Riku and Yuffie seemed to have robes with a large amount of padding on the shoulders, swathed in leaf green ribbons.

As the light faded and the Portal closed, Riku's eyes perked up and sampled the stenches of death and decay wafting in from all over the landscape.

"Smells like something's-"

"All of you! Don't move!"

The sound of an amplified voice boomed down from a large flying vessel that bobbed gently in the air above them. So noiseless, no-one had noticed its descent at the disturbances caused by the transformation.

As the craft began to land, balancing on giant cushions of metal-plating, Sora and the others took the opportunity to group together in a great, itchy huddle.

"Okay, so from 'Infiltrate and rescue', we've gone to 'Let's get captured the minute we leave the islands. Awesome work, everyone." Yuffie remarked snidely.

As the hangar-door on the ship opened, Roxas took the time to sum out the general feeling of the group.

"Well, isn't this just a fucking fantastic adventure…"

* * *

_Explanations will be added in the next chapter. Review and advise!_


	14. Unpleasant Revelations

_You know, I really think I should get to work on Turning the Tide and Nocturnal vision... Maybe. Review 'em, kind people! Please!_

_Also, a shout out to my adopted sisters, Charisma Spin and broken katana!_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

The ship slowly coasted to the ground, resting on four arms that grew from the underhull, cushioning the landing and giving the machine a bloated, toad-like appearance. Built of a strange mix of metals, ceramics and corded cables, curving at what appeared to be the bridge and smoothing into a bubble at the hull, straightening at the engines and the maneuvering jets that sprouted like flowers from the sides.

Turrets sprouted from the surface of the ship like obese thorns, their ends tapered and funneling into sharp blades that flexed in the turbulence. The ship, the company noticed, was a lot bigger closer up, looking like the manor in the Destiny Islands would have been completely engulfed in the giant vessel.

So it came as a small shock when a tiny door emerged from one of the supports and showed a young angel man, his features bronzed in the manner of the American Indians, wings of a subtle sky-blue. He began walking the fair distance to the group, who had drawn together and begun whispering amongst themselves.

"Should we make a break for it?" Roxas cast a glance towards a small copse of tree-husks, looking disappointed as a branch snapped off and dropped to the ground in a shower of soot.

"Hang on. Kids, the story is that you guys are here for… Crap, I've forgotten the… Yes… Yes… That'll work. Right, you kids are here for the fertility festival, right? I'm your guide; we might be able to catch a ride back to T'en if we play this right." Feni interjected, smiling as the man drew closer.

"Are you sure they'll believe us?" Kairi asked, grasping Sora's arm.

"Well, they don't think we're Humans."

"How can you tell?"

"We're still breathing. Ninja girl, I'm going to need a knife for this." Feni nudged Yuffie, who reached into her mauve robes and withdrew a Kunai from her folds.

"Where did you pull that from?" Riku questioned, not believing his eyes as the ninja tested the point and handed in to the Angel.

Yuffie shrugged and refused to answer.

"You there! What business have you in this land of Dae'mons?" The Indian man barked aloud, directing his attention towards Kairi.

"You are the Leader-taker, yes?" He grunted, his clothing was more suitably in view, an armoured vest made of a strange synthetic leather matching into his brown trousers.

Kairi slowly backed away, and Sora stepped forward to answer, "I-"

In a blur, Feni whirled around and slapped Sora full in the face, kicking him in the stomach and baring her teeth as the others looked on, shocked. "You will not speak, _Dhamfeer!_ I speak, you heed my wisdom! Understand this!"

Turning back to the man, who seemed oblivious to the fact that both Roxas and Riku had summoned their blades in the instant that Feni had struck Sora, now only beginning to lower them. "We are pilgrims to the _Van'saka_. What has transpired thus to cause ruin to a once prosperous World-span?"

"Hae'l and Dae'mons arose from a gate and burned this land to the bones of earth, we are still attempting to eradicate the last of the skirmishers but the main force has retreated. E'eon did not smile upon us this day." The man's lips twitched downwards, "Many have died, we have yet to say the prayers and perform the cleansing."

"What are they saying?" Yuffie hissed to Namine, who began trying to whisper a hasty English version to the girl, seeing as she had not received a neurocyte.

"We desire transport, if these times are truly so dangerous." Feni stood as tall as she could, but still looked rather comical, coming up only to the man's chin.

The man began to frown, "I do not think-"

"You will give us passage, Male!" Feni shouted, holding the kunai to the man's throat. "I demand you speak to the Command! SPEAK NOW!!" She was beginning to shriek as she said the final words.

"It is not my pla-"

The Knife shimmered silver in the air, cutting a wicked gash through the armour and slicing a wicked gash over the Angel's chest, blood slowly slicking out of the wound and staining the undervest with sticky fluid. The Angel stumbled back, holding a hand over the tear in his flesh and staring with a mix of terror and pure hatred.

"Once more, underling. Contact your Command. The next cut will be less forgiving." Feni murmured in a growl, not caring about the shocked gasps of the children behind her.

The man seemed to resolve a conflict in his head, and touched a small pad on his throat.

"Command, we have… pilgrims who demand succor. We have Child-kin, and a leader-female. What do-"

He paused, cocking his head into an earpiece.

"You have permission to come aboard. May your stay be… pleasant." The man grimaced, and turned back towards the door in the support.

"Awesome!" Namine cried, "I've never been in an airship before!" She began to skip, uncaring of the carnage and death surrounding her, but her legs entangled in her robes and she sprawled to the ground, laughing as her cheeks grew red from embarrassment.

"Up you go." Roxas lifted her up, spurning her to move a little faster to catch up with the rest of the group. Then suddenly, Roxas slowed down, letting the others go into the ship and yelling ahead that he wanted to talk a little before he went aboard.

Turning to Namine at their sedate amble, he grinned in an 'I'm still a little shocked' fashion. "I really thought we were going to die, might have to get a change of clothes on deck."

"Ew, too much information, Rox." Namine pushed him a little, before holding her hands behind her back. "I don't think that would have happened. With my spells and your… well, with my spells-" She laughed as Roxas pushed back as punishment, "- We're invincible!"

"Say what? What are you gonna do when we get into a fight, defeat our enemies with magic crayons?" Roxas teased, slipping an around her side and nudging his cheek against hers. "You're lucky you've got me."

"So, it's luck when you're followed around by a smelly, stinky, bad-breathed, foul-tempered, low-IQ, untalented, unloving, uncaring and certainly unemployed schmuck?" Namine smiled as Roxas cringed, before slipping her own arm over his.

"Hmmm… I guess I'm just unlucky, all I got was you. I'll just have to make do…" She pretended to sigh, trying to keep in her giggles as Roxas finally clicked to what she meant.

"Was that a complime-… wow…"

As they walked through the door and caught sight of the others waiting in a room with a grated floor on the other side of a corridor, Namine and Roxas took in the gleaming, almost surreal white walls and the occasional strip of electronic hardware which had no apparent use.

Namine shuddered. "It's just like Castle Oblivion."

"You two finished? We've gotta get cleaned up, here." Yuffie called back, earning a strange look from the Indian Sylvaen who was leaning against the wall of the grated room.

"What did she-?" He began.

"She has a damaged Speech control centre. She cannot speak-" Feni shot back.

"But she sounded just like a _Hae'l_."

"Be silent. I am not in the mood to talk. Have you any idea what we've been through?"

"What you have been through? I saw my mother die last workspan. The _Hae'l_ had shot her through the eye and gutted her. They pissed in the holes they left. Don't speak, please, I'm just doing my job."

Silence reigned again, the Indian man's features remained unchanged as Roxas and Namine stepped in.

"_Very well, all vitals are correct and auras are checked out. Time to kill anything that isn't you, pilgrims_." A voice sounded from a speaker hidden behind a mesh in the ceiling.

On cue, a fine green mist began to hiss into the room as the airlock bulkheads slid into place, securing the space and holding the new addition to the air.

"_Saturation level… is… Maximum. Hold it there, Hae'vanjagge, this'll only take a few minutes_." The voice sounded again.

"It doesn't smell of anything…" Kairi pointed out as the mist continued to pour in.

"It's not supposed to. Is this your first time on a warship?" The Indian man asked as he tried to force the threads of his armour over his cut, "In that case, I shall see to it that you are aptly guided during your stay. I am Tokas Ivani-vani, squad-leader of the Fierce Cobras." That said, Tokas inclined his head towards the group.

"What are your names, child-kin?"

"I'm Sora, this is Riku, Namine, Kairi, Roxas Yuffie, and Fe-" The brunette gestured to each of his friends, but a swift kick from Feni halted his introduction.

"Fegisa Marlmodek. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, male." Feni spoke.

The doors to the airlock opened to another corridor, this one more consumed by large pipes and the odd Metal door. This one, _Maintenance lock #43_, that one _Pulse Turret 4_, all of them looking strangely tempting, exerting a strange curiosity that drew one in.

"Is this really a ship? It looks like Dad's carpentry workshop back home, minus the sawdust." Yuffie spoke, earning an odd glance from Riku.

"What? My dad likes to make things, so do I." She added self-consciously.

A small group of female Sylvaen were waiting to greet them at the bridge deck, wings conspicuously absent as they stood in front of the children. The other crewmembers monitoring the stations and visual screens paused in their work, looked over the children, and went back to their business. Tokas nodded at the woman in front of it.

"They've been through the purging. They are as pure as you or I, _Vasi_." He inclined his head slightly, and then swept to the side to allow the groups to survey each other.

The Sylvaen were all women of childbearing age, encased in tight, unflattering combat suits that covered everything from toes to neck. The leader stepped forward to better look at the Keybladers.

The other women began to whisper amongst themselves, not so quiet as to not be overheard.

"They are so young…"

"The silver-haired one, is he a void child?"

"… Dressed in robes, obviously from some backwater…"

"How did they get here?"

"… Outskirts…?"

"Dangerous, maybe?"

"So _adorable!_"

The last comment resulted in a squeak and a blush from the smallest member of the group, a Latino-looking teen with short, curling hair who shuffled to the back as her companions looked on with a variety of expressions.

"I'm allowed to like Sun-hairs, aren't I?" She grumbled.

"Enough, Vespa. You there, silver one, step forward." The leader pointed a finger at Riku, who turned to Feni.

"Should I?"

"She's the captain, male. You do what she says, or the punishment will be cruel and unusual."

"Yeah, she never lets us watch." Another woman spoke up, prompting a laugh from the group.

"He is too young for my tastes." The leader smiled.

"He looks old enough for ours!" Two of them chorused, resulting in a bit of fidgeting on Riku's part as he stepped forward.

The leader placed her hands on either side of his head, and leaned forward as if to kiss him. Riku immediately leaned back, or at least tried to. The hands suddenly stiffened as Kairi gasped and Sora's posture changed aggressively.

"What are you-"

"Welcome aboard, Void child."

Riku could do nothing as the leader closed the distance and kissed him fully on the lips, disengaging after a few seconds and placing her hands on her hips.

She laughed as she watched the Keyblade master, his mouth opening and closing in shock as his fists balled.

"For luck." She winked, "Your quarters have yet to be arranged. Enjoy your stay aboard the _Rakshasa,_ I'm Captain Eletia Wa'djagema. Tokas, I leave them to you, get a replacement vest from the Armory on level 24." She gave a small turn of the hand and led the others away, the one called Vespa blowing a kiss towards Roxas' direction.

"W-What was that all about?" Riku stammered, holding a finger to his lips.

Feni snorted and shared a look with Tokas, who grinned for the first time since entering the ship. "Let me guess, he doesn't know?" Tokas laughed, a rich baritone penetrating the air.

"Hey, it's not our fault we don't know anything!" Sora pouted and crossed his arms.

"Hey, pilgrim child, I'm not making fun of you. I mean, when I was 30, I had trouble understanding the customs on board the ships myself." His eyes glazed over as he went down memory road.

"See, the Family-Clan back home always told me 'Follow orders, we're not strong enough to survive assimilation', so I slept with the females that she commanded me to for 'morale purposes', but you wouldn't believe how scared I was…"

"You what?!" Namine gasped, "H-how could you… With someone… just because you were-"

"I do what I must, when I must, to who I must, only until I become prosperous. Besides, sex is sex." He shrugged.

Roxas began looking down the mess of pipes and cables and screens, trying to make sense of the chaos, "Do you guys have anything to eat?"

"You hunger? Ah, to be young again…" Tokas chuckled, waving his hand forward in a beckoning motion. "This way. Mind the step."

The group made their way through the maze of hardware, nervously watching as members of the crew passed by, sometimes reaching out to tug a lock of Riku's hair or pull on his pinky, to which Riku fumed and grumbled as Sora and Roxas continued to tease 'The lover boy'.

"I don't get it, why do they keep touching him?" Namine whispered to Tokas, who gave her an amazed look and slowed down a little.

"Everyone knows that those of silver hair are directly descended to the Lady E'eon, praise be. It's for luck." Tokas moved his hand over his chest, shifting his fingers so that they looked like they were forming a ninja sign unconsciously.

"Praise be." Feni muttered offhandedly, before turning back to her guide. "I've never seen this make before. I'd swear that the hardware is dependent on the _Psam'tik_'s capacity loaders, but the connectors are designed to handle less power flow than even an _Aten_ light cruiser!"

"That's the rub, you see? This is a prototype _Ti'fon_ Destroyer."

"I thought they performed poorly…"

"No, see, the report was misleading- Ah, we're here. Please, help yourselves."

The mess hall was compact but filled with tables and benches with a buffet at the far end, and there was a pack of five women in shirts and brown jeans grouped around a table discussing something animatedly as another Sylvaen joined them with a tray of meat strips.

"What are those?" Yuffie asked, pointing to the thin slices of jerkied flesh that they were ripping off of the strips with gusto.

Tokas grumbled, and motioned to the all-female group, "If she's asking about them, they're the maintenance crew for the Weapons subsystems. Watch out for the one with pink blemishes on her wings, she's very fond of _P'fandi_."

"No, I mean, what are they eating?" Yuffie continued, ignoring the throat-slashing gesture Feni was making behind the back of their Indian guide.

"I don't understand; does she want to sit with them?"

"She's asking about the _Gobelli_." Feni replied.

"It's meat."

"It's meat, Yuffie." Sora told her.

"Wait, what did he say?" Tokas turned towards Sora.

"We've found that mimicking her vocal patterns puts her at ease." Feni interrupted, moving between the two.

An uncomfortable silence followed.

_Rabeshak Ivani-vani, to the bridge. Rabeshak Ivani-vani to the bridge. _

The intercom buzzed shrilly, earning a groan and a few choice profanities from Tokas.

"Bloody Matrons, they can't take a hint, can they?" He grumbled, before exiting the mess hall. "Eat up, this won't take long."

Roxas and Sora immediately rushed towards a stack of trays, going along the buffet and scooped up large ladles of a grain similar to Jasmine Rice, strips of the meat, a bowl of gravy and a few small dishes of sweetpeas before setting down on the table closest to the buffet.

"Do they ever think about anything but food?" Yuffie giggled as she took a seat.

"Do you?" Riku smiled. Yuffie simply pulled out a fork and dug into the mounds of food.

Soon, the table was alive with idle chatter and variations of 'I can't believe we got out of that alive' and 'It'll be fun to watch Riku tearing out his hair."

Well, for about five minutes, anyway.

"Excuse me, male."

One of the women who had been sitting at the other table shoved Sora aside to sit down next to Riku, pulling him back when he tried to shuffle away from her.

"If you're thinking of-" Riku started.

"Quiet. There's something I want to know. What clan are you from, blessed one?" She purred, slowly slinking an arm around his waist and grinning raucously. Riku responded by trying to detach himself from her grip, to no avail.

"I-I… uh, I don't have a clan." He stuttered, trying not to breathe as she drew closer.

"Really? Well, how lucky for you that I'm here. Perhaps I could initiate you in a strong clan, for certain… favours." Her breath smelled of apricots and alcohol, "What do you say, male? I keep you safe, you keep me satisfied…" Her wings began trailing down Riku's left arm, he noticed the pink stains on the feathers as he brushed them off.

"You're making me sick." Riku gagged, trying to clear his nose of the smell and trying to ignore that her breasts were resting on his right arm.

"That's cruel." She moaned.

"That's life. Besides, the Silver one is betrothed." Feni cut in between fits of laughter, "You'd have to take the matter up with the temple, I doubt the council would be pleased to find their precious void-child deflowered."

"Oh, come on… Don't be so frigid…" She leaned right up to place her mouth at Riku's ear, "… please reconsider, don't let those bloated bladder bags get between our fated union…"

Riku snapped, jerking a knee under the table and striking the woman dead centre in the abdomen. She recoiled and gasped, clumsily grabbing the edge of the bench and flopping to the ground as her companions cheered.

"About time!"

"Good hit!"

Riku snorted as the woman glared murder at him, eyes narrowed, teeth bared and wings sprawled behind her, she looked foolish at best.

"I'll remember this, you filth!" She snarled, before getting shakily to her feet and storming out of the hall.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Nice going, Riku." Yuffie gave a small thumbs up before turning back to her food.

"I don't get it, why is Tokas the only guy here? Why are all the girls so… you know… _intense_?" Kairi prodded Feni.

"Ah, that's a hard question. Put simply, it's due to magicka distorting the usual biological gender system. You know, Men are strong, protect women, therefore deal with danger and must reproduce ASAP before something happens to them, while women must hold out for the best potential mate. Here, muscle and bone mass means nothing, and magicka is best harnessed by those with a better connected brain and faster reflexes."

"You mean girls." Roxas put in.

"That's right. Therefore, long story short, females are the dominant sex, here."

"So that's why everyone's hitting on Riku."

"Exactly."

The rest of the meal carried on uneventfully, sporadically interrupted by Roxas' chewing of the meat strips and an impromptu sword fight between Sora and Yuffie, pretending to fence with the metal forks and knives..

"These are good." Roxas mumbled as he spooned another load of rice and gravy into his waiting maw.

"Glad you like 'em."

The voice belonged to the girl who had blown a kiss at Roxas when they departed for the mess hall, leaning against the doorway and smiling cockily. "It okay if I join you pilgrims?" She stuck out her tongue, walking with a slight bounce in her step. Her eyes were a strange mix of purple and gold, her arms decorated with tattoos that glowed in turquoise and green while her military gear seemed to have more metal plates studded into the fabric than most.

"I'm sorry, but we've just had a problem with the last-" Kairi started, before Sora chimed in with an "Of course you can!".

"Wonderful. Just so you know, I'm not as crazy as the Captain. Just wanted to throw that out there." She sat next to Yuffie, staring intently at Roxas. The other table finished their plates and strode off towards the bridge as the conversation renewed around the group, though the annoyed glances Namine was sending at the Sylvaen didn't seem to faze her.

"So, I'm assuming that you're the same _Hae'l_ I saw in T'en, right?"

Sora and Roxas quietly summoned their blades under the table; the girl seemed not to notice as the conversation died down.

"I thought so. Papa was always a little loud when it came to dramatic exits."

"Papa?" Kairi looked over at Feni, who rolled her eyes.

"This is Naba's daughter, not by blood. Hey, Hive. Guess you figured we'd make a move, huh?" Feni crossed her arms, ignoring the others.

"Well, it's that or see dad die." The newly acknowledged Hive yawned. "But first, do you mind if I say something to the _Hae'l?_"

"Wait, she's the Hive? The one Naba told us to find? Why didn't they stop her and keep her locked up if they knew we were going to look for her?" Riku placed his hands on the table, trying to discern how the strange turns of consequences kept piling up.

"He was speaking in English, remember? Go ahead, Hive."

"Weeell then, I'z szuposzes I tellsz yousze noaaw-" Hive started in broken, heavily accented English, "Szat zaa thingsz yousze call jerky, theysze driedy slugsz."

"What did she say?" Roxas questioned as he bit off another hunk of meat.

"That those strips of meat that you like so much are dried slugs."

As Roxas spat out his food and made a show of cleaning out his tongue, the table grew lively with restrained laughter. After all, everyone had eaten the meat.

* * *

_Roight, now then, you lot must review! Otherwise this stops right here! Next chapter will be very action-packed and full of gore, you'll get a peek into the workings of Sylvaen Philosophy!_

_Till next time, fools!_

* * *


	15. Unholy Hearts in Holy Creatures

* * *

_Sorry about the delays. I haven't felt up to the task._

* * *

"_Listen up, Crew! I've got good news, and then I've got incredible news! The good news? We found the coalition Centre for the Hae'l skimishers! The incredible news? IT'S GROUND-BORNE, BABY!! Time to party like it's Fae-on-aeon!!" _

The six humans disguised as Sylvaen waited in their spacious quarters, a testament to the fact that occasionally the ship was used as an escort vessel for the higher echelons. At the sound buzzing through on the intercom, Yuffie's eyes lit up as she understood every word. Sora and the other five listened intently, and failed completely to understand the significance of the announcement.

It had been only twenty minutes, but Hive had swiped a Neurocyte from a hidden compartment and jabbed it into Yuffie. From there, going to the quarters and much idle small talk had dominated until the speakers blared out the young feminine voice that sounded very happy indeed.

"_That will do, Kor've! How many times must I remind you not to snatch the P.A while I'm talking? Anyway, I can only confirm what the idiot girl just bellowed out. We've spotted the encampment at roughly a quarter-turn of time from our current location. All spirit-guides, prepare the ammunition for the compatriot. Machine Cult-squad numbers 56-98, prep the Omak cannon, commence plasma core insertion on my mark. Moon-Clan, Shadow-Clan, prepare for ground assault, four drop-carriers will deliver you into the designated zones indicated on your augment reads; Phoenix Squad, prepare to be deployed at seven-rise. All turreteers are to be at their stations in a sixth-cycle. Praise be._

"Praise be." Hive and Feni chorused after the P.A went silent, not glancing at the others as Hive began zipping up her jacket.

"You're going to come too, Auntie? It's been a while since you…" Hive gave Feni a puzzled look as she rose from the table, fiddling with the zipper as the other Sylvaen got up to join her.

Sora tugged at Feni's arm, and got a slap on the hand for his efforts. "As much as I hate to leave the kids, High command'll get suspicious if a warden didn't jump at the chance for a hunt."

Hive shrugged, wincing as both Roxas and Riku complained of being left behind, despite the shushing noises coming from Kairi. "Can't argue with that."

"Watch me." Namine spoke up, ignoring the stunned looks from her friends. "Feni isn't going; she would never hurt a person, I've known her long enough to see that she… Feni?"

The Sylvaen was holding on to her chest, slowly laughing in a quiet stream of mirth. Hive looked sad, and put a hand on Namine's shoulder.

"You don't know her at all, little one."

"Why do you keep acting so… big?! You're hardly as old as she is!" Roxas yelled at the Hispanic angel, his jaw clenched and his words laden with frustration.

"I'm 40, sun-hair."

Namine withdrew instantly. One second she was shaking under the angel's grasp, the next had her sprinting to the far corner of the room. "That's… s-so weird! I thought you were younger than me!" She trembled at how much she had come to assume from these people, simply because they looked human.

"You thought wrong. And I'm about to prove you very worry about everything else." Feni looked grim, before walking out of the door with her niece, waving a finger as Sora and Kairi tried to follow them out.

"Nope."

Looking dejected as the other two left, the Keyblade Master and his _maybebutnotreally_ girlfriend slumped back to the long couches. A sudden _ClunkwhiirrClunk_ indicated that the door had locked behind them.

"This sucks more than the suckiest thing that ever… I dunno…"

"Sucked?" Kairi giggled as she finished Sora's sentence for him, hopefully bringing him out of his stupor.

Sora sighed and laid back over her legs as he tried to figure out just what was going on outside the ship. On cue, the lights dimmed and the Screens that Riku had long ago given up trying to work switched off.

_Non-essential systems powered off. Calculating Atmospheric particle physics… Dust level high, Humidity level also high, nearing 60. Convert Ion catalyst to 45.7 Capacity, redirect turret quadrant 36 through to 40 to quadrant 09-B. Plasma core insertion nearing completion, prepping augment grid to Four-point-five-two Tahmu, all guns estimated to be ready at a twelve-cycle._

"I didn't sign up for getting stuck in a war." Riku groaned, holding his head in his hands, trying to quell the headache that threatened to turn from an annoyance to something far more consuming.

_Rabeshak Maelsa reporting, all Drop-mores ready for deployment!_

_Rabeshak Yongeti reporting, we're missing a couple of vehicles here, where's that artillery from Tallek-Shst'te?_

_Redirected towards Solmae-Has'hin._

_Oh, for…!_

"We're not kids anymore, we shouldn't be complaining. Aren't we supposed to be responsible for getting ourselves into this me-?' Roxas pointed out, when a jolt that ran through the entire ship bounced him off the couch.

_WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!_

_We have two Dolmen Cruisers rising from 56-degrees port side, Range at 7,000 Tolb, Elevation at 2,200 Tolb! Current status is H-A-F-O._

_All east-side turrets, maintain a firewall between their beam cannons and our primary subsystems, try to deploy a flak shield to deter smaller craft!_

_This is Rabeshak Hyth, we're deploying before they wipe out the level 7 Hangar, any objectives, command? We're taking Pellet-cannon fire here!_

_Maintain your current course, keep within our field of fire. E'eon give you luck._

_Beam cannon seven is charged!_

_Deploy on my mark, error code change is 77-MN._

_This is Rabeshak Hyth, we have successfully achieved combat velocity, now nearing deployment post 00-12!_

The commands flew thick and fast, but Riku tried to keep a clear train of thought, and after a quick scan of the room (And many more jolts) he could only draw one conclusion. Sora was fine, rubbing his head as he helped Kairi up. Namine was holding onto the bed in terror as Roxas summoned his Keyblade and smashed the door open with a Herculean blow… but…

"Where's Yuffie?"

* * *

The robe-clad Ninja grimaced as her long clothes caught under her feet, making her stumble through corridor after corridor. The cloth rubbed against her thighs and itched like crazy, reminding her of the uncomfortable winter kimonos that her father had forced her to wear.

She pushed that thought aside. She needed her wits about her to keep tracing the chakra trail that the two angels had left behind them. She didn't even dress down those who pushed past her with expressions that she couldn't decipher. This one looked sadistically happy; another angel looked like a great weight had just been lifted from her shoulders and practically breezed past, humming in spite of the shocks and disciplined orders rattling from the speakers…

Yuffie compared those faces to those from back home, the horde of gruff, trembling soldiers who held back the tides of Heartless and other monsters…

Those brave men back home were frightened, war terrified them. Some of the others looked grim, like they knew their death could come, that they were pitted against things that were once their friends. Karma only lasted so long.

These angels looked like they were having the time of their lives. Two of them were even laughing as they ran down the corridor to her left, like children at an amusement park.

_Tertiary Cannon 17 deploying, fighter craft inbound. Give us some cover to emerge, Command!_

_Acknowledged, scrambling countermeasures. Brace for impact._

The angels around her suddenly stopped moving and clung to anything on the wall that they could, a thick air of anticipation settled for a second. Yuffie paid them no heed and kept following the trail.

**WHUMPWHUMPWHUMPWHUMPWHUMP**

The ship lurched from left, right, up and down as massive explosions rocked it like a boat. Yuffie ended up flying into a door that had been blown open from the movements outside and skidded on her face for a few feet, crashing into an unyielding wall.

Bleeding from the mouth and nose, sporting a huge scrape over her forehead and cheek, Yuffie choked back a sob of pain as she got to her feet, still shaking. She felt the massive gusts of wind, the sounds of air swirling around places unknown. Something burned her cheek and she swatted it away, realizing that the sky above her was raining blistering bits of flak from the giant countermeasures.

_That did it! 12…15…23 Fighters down! Opening volley to commence in five… four…_

Yuffie's vision was a little restricted, her left eye was slowly swelling shut, but she saw a man with a blue combat vest, brown wings and a black mask looking at her with his mouth hanging open. He had been the one confirming the destruction of the fighters, sitting in an open-air seat with a long tube at the other end. Yuffie gulped when she saw how close she was towards flying off the edge of the ship. If she'd slipped two feet to the right, she would have dropped to the… _oh god it's so far down!_

_Wait a sec, who the hell are- shit, opening fire!'_

Yuffie was glad that her eyes had closed instinctively when she saw the throbbing blue sphere on the end of the tube exploded outwards, the thin beam flickered on and off as small ships ran into the superheated plasma lance, only to have it slice through their hulls. The sound of the cannon was surprising quiet, but the humming sound, the **Nyyuuuuuuuuurrrruuuuuuuurrrrrruuuuurrr…** threatened to haunt her forever. The glow subsided and she opened her eyes to a warzone unlike any other.

She saw the sides of the ship stretching out for an incredible distance, the platform she stood on felt unstable as hell, but she tried to forget the nausea in her stomach.

She knew, however, that she couldn't forget the crazed laughter of the angel who piloted the gun, selecting new targets as soon as the latest explosion heralded a clean hit.

"DIE!! DIE!! DIIIIIIE!!"

Something inside the ninja clenched at the insane tone in his voice as he screamed at the flares of flame blossoming from the hits he'd scored, and she grabbed on to the rail to steady herself as the man cackled and jeered as the skies lit up in fire.

She didn't know how she did it, but she stumbled back into the ship, where the orders where still flying. She could feel a hand on her shoulder, but the shock of what the people here actually _were_ had paralyzed her.

_Engine 6 has been compromised! Switching to a 70 stress factor on Engine 14!_

_Negative, redirect Anti-grav to port A-76, we'll balance this out._

_Primary Cannon prepped and ready!_

_Secondary Cannons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6… All ready!_

_Secondary Cannons 2, 3 and 6, locked!_

_Calculating Atmospheric error correction, Two degrees vertical ascent, four degrees right!_

_On my mark…_

"Holy fuck, they've started already!" The person who'd grabbed her threw her into a room full of attendants and monitors; the dark lighting that covered the large space was partially thrown into relief by an old blue fluorescence. A woman angel looked up and turned her attention back to her screen as she relayed orders into her mic.

On the left of the room, a large monitor had been cleaved in half by a giant shred of shrapnel that had sliced through the wall like paper. An angel lay on the ground, writhing in a growing pool of blood as another winged one funneled a strange stream of living light directly into his chest. The cause of the blood was clear to the side of him, a wing lay severed at the main strut and flapped automatically as the nerves within it died. Yuffie felt the contents of her stomach heave as she heard the man scream in agony.

The woman left Yuffie and ran to the side of another woman feeding inputs into a giant screen that showed the view from the front of the side. The nose was slowly pointing to the left, away from the two cruisers that flanked the huge vessel, instead pointing towards a large collection of hastily constructed buildings.

_Secondary Cannons, Volley!_

The screen on the right burst into green colours as three identical beams blazed into the sides of the Hae'l ships, two scored great swathes down the sides of the larger ship, while the smaller ship collapsed and fell haphazardly to the ground as the beam punched straight through its hull and out the other side. Flames trailed upwards like red ivy, and Yuffie couldn't help but watch as it struck the ground and let loose a massive explosion from its engine section, ripping open the ground as shreds of metal flew from the metal carcass.

She swore she could hear the screams… what were these Hae'l? Why did she get this incredible feeling of unease?

"We have confirmation! One down, the other appears to be faltering, no turret fire!" One of the mic'd angels cried in triumph, and a pair of women high-fived as they continued relaying instructions.

_Cruiser down. Prepping second pulse. _

_Acknowledged._

_Fire on three… two… _

Yuffie looked on in horror as the crater-shaped turrets gathered energy in their centres, forming bright-green orbs that pulsed and crackled with untold energies.

… _one… BURN THEM!!_

The beams once again leapt toward the final remaining ship, piercing it in two locations and setting off something that triggered another series of explosions that ripped the entire vessel apart. Debris and flaming wreckage descended in a slow fall as the craft finally shook itself into uncountable pieces.

"Got them." The woman who had dragged her laughed. Yuffie recognized her as one of those who had been part of the commander's group when they had entered the ship. She turned towards the ninja and winced as she looked as the girls puffy, injured face.

"Can you keep your other eye open?" She asked softly, Yuffie only nodded, too sickened by the destruction to trust her voice. The stricken angel had somehow been reunited with his wing and was no longer bleeding profusely, but his attendant still held her hands over the line of severing, her hands glowing a soft white to mend his flesh.

"Good. You don't want to miss what happens next!" The angel by Yuffie's side laughed, pointing at the large monitor. "I never get bored of this!"

_Ground Impact trajectory calculated. Preparing main cannon._

_Plasma core has reached 40 deterioration, better hurry it up!_

_Acknowledged. Awaiting confirmation of small-craft clearance._

_Section clear! I just got the last one down! All thanks to me, at turret-_

_Redirecting powergrid from minor turrets to main cannon. Stand by._

_This is Rabeshak Ivanivani, ground troops are prepared for drop-off._

_Acknowledged, stand by._

_This is Avatar Vespa, Armoured division is prepped and ready!_

_Acknowledged, stand by._

_Plasma core has reached 50 deterioration!_

_Acknowledged, stand by._

_No, I won't stand by; you leave it much longer and-!_

_Main cannon: Ready to fire!_

_Acknowledged._

"What's going to happen?" Yuffie asked, once the bile in her gut stopped trying to escape up her throat.

"We will PURGE them." The Woman who'd grabbed her growled in a voice that sounded like the chasm of hell had opened in her mouth.

_Gunnery control, open fire._

Yuffie felt the cannon's shuddering energies wash over her as the entire ship hummed to its charge. She could feel the quivering reach her as the turret on the screen aimed itself at the ground encampment.

The entire monitor blacked out.

"Wha-"

"Protective Visor. The beam is too bright to be seen without blinding us." The woman next to her grinned at her ignorance.

"The best bit is knowing that _that-_" she pointed to the screen as the visor cut out and showed the effects of the beam, "-is what will happen to all those disgusting things in time. Well done, everyone!" She spoke aloud, congratulating those in the smaller compartment to general approval.

Yuffie felt herself begin shaking uncontrollably, the carnage she had just witnessed was proving too much. Even the Heartless weren't capable of this…

She turned away from the screen, where the obvious outline of a mushroom cloud still erupted from where the Coalition centre once stood.

* * *

A massive cheer swamped the air inside the Cone-shaped bridge, where Sora and the others had been ordered once it had been discovered that they had broken out, their disobedience brushed off as the recklessness and passion of the young.

"VENGANCE!!" A male called from the right of the giant glass and metal room. Many others took up his call with a frenzied madness, teeth shining and wings spread stiff as they gave the scene a short salute.

Moments later, the shock wave from the explosion rattled the ship again, but then all was still as the giant dust cloud dispersed.

"What. Did. You. _DO?!_" Sora raged at the commander, his eyes wild and filled with a deep rage as he felt the pain of the dead. The darkness in his heart had throbbed painfully against his chest and threatened to transform him…

_Not now…_

"We have cleansed the world of abomination." Came the curt reply, before the commander grabbed the P.A, dismissing the Keyblader's struggles to escape his restraining friends as unimportant.

_Attention, all ground units, prepare for Sanitizing._

* * *

_Well, I might be a little quicker with the next chapter... If I get more reviews.  
_


	16. Taking a break

_Next chapter. I seriously need to figure something out for this. This chapter is mostly Sylvaen-centric, to give you a further glimpse into the culture._

* * *

_**Who will answer E'eon's call?!**_

A slow, steady drumbeat rumbled in the background, but all eyes were on the woman on the platform in front of the winged multitude in the cavernous hanger. It was time to speak forth the true sermon, her first time dispensing the divine word to her flock, and she would not fail.

_We will…_

The assembled soldiers chorused in a practiced harmony. Their eyes softly glowing in the darkness of the space, the metal walls and ceiling giving their voices an ethereal, celestial quality. The only light came from the electronic displays in the hangar's overlook box, suspended from the middle of the ceiling and covering the entire scene in a silver radiance.

_**Take the right of the universe to them!**_

The angel on the podium growled and snarled as she continued her pseudo-insane address to the congregation. Her teeth were bared and she hissed at those in the front row, laughing as they drew back.

_We will…_

The voices seemed to be growing in hunger as their priestess cried out to them.

_**Uphold the perfection of all Sylvaen!**_

She practically screamed the last word, her eyes blazing with an inner fire that slowly reproduced itself in the newer recruits. The more experienced troops just closed their eyes and let their memories of the wingless freaks they were to fight do the work.

_We will…_

The voices grew in passion, and a shout of 'What are we waiting for?!' was quickly voiced before the offender was shushed.

_**Who will take their pathetic instincts from them?!**_

The priestess opened her hands to the crowd, as if in supplication.

_We will!_

The assembled wingfolk roared their need, their desire and their credo all at once, the walls softly vibrating as the sound edged toward a painful level while the beat grew in volume.

_**Who will take their useless lives away?!**_

The drums began to pick up, the troops reacted to the faster beat in a number of ways, from stomping their feet to shivering their wings in the cramped space. The hanger was large, but between the huge, hulking metal war-walkers and the multitude of armoured Sylvaen, there was little room to move for much else. Mouths began to open, revealing a throng of teeth glimmering in the soft light.

_We will, we'll take them away!_

_**Who will take their taint from the innocent worlds?!**_

_We will, we'll take it away!!_

Finally, a massive pulse of sound came from the largest drum, which then hammered out the final beat; a quick, raging war chant that surged through to the soul and turned it hot to bloodshed and death. The priestess cried once more as the troops began stomping and screaming to the music.

_**What will you do?!**_

_We will… We'll ground their reality,_

_We will… We'll end their fantasy!_

_We will… we will cleanse the ground!_

_We will… we will sanctify the air!_

_We'll make good the world!!_

_We will…_

_PURGE THE HAE'L!!_

The last cry shook the walls, the metal clamps, screws… anything within those four walls moved with the powerful madness that had claimed the holy creatures in their battlerage.

In a matter of seconds, the entire ship shivered when a new addition was brought to the podium. A bound, gagged and heavily bruised human was brought to the prowl, eyes wild with terror as the angels in front of him danced in full battle gear. Slowly, the two angels who had brought him forward kicked him in the back of his legs and dropped him to his knees, leaving him facing the Priestess and not the crowd. He turned his head and gave the multitude a beseeching look.

The looks he got back were ones of absolute hatred, the type of anger that could crack open mountains and burn the world. A few hands made their way to their combat knives and more than one angel leapt an incredible distance to show him just how much they cared about his kind.

The priestess moved her hands, a few complex symbols flashed into the air, and suddenly the angels found themselves flung back with incredible force, slamming into the ground and other Sylvaen. She turned back to the seething, hissing landscape of flesh and wing, leading the call.

_**WHO WILL END THE UNIVERSE OF THINGS LIKE THESE?!**_

_We will, we'll end this disgust!_

_We will, we'll make them fear!_

_We will, we'll show them how!_

_How we are death itself!!_

_RIP HIM OPEN!! EAT HIS HEART!! KILL THE ABOMINATION!!_

_**YES!!**_

The priestess turned to the human that softly sobbed in fear, and found his limbs suddenly stretched by invisible hands, pulling him spread-eagled against the rapidly heating space, floating in midair. The Sylvaen turned back to her flock, then back to the man, then back again. She howled to the crowd, they roared back.

_**THE HAE'L SHALL DIE!!**_

A mix of blue and white lines burst to life on her arms, and her flesh began to shift as she grunted and looked closed her eyes. The human tried to retch, but the gag had stilled that reflex as he watch the limb drip a dark vapour that collected and fused into the woman's muscle. It swelled, bucked, ran with an evil ichor until it had grown to twice its size, once delicate nails contorted into claws a metre long, matching into each finger and locking into a blade as they settled.

_EAT HIM!! EAT HIM!!_

The man struggled as the chains around his arms detached, but the invisible bonds on his hands held him steady. The priestess looked to him and gave a raising salute to her congregation.

Then in a blinding stroke, she threw forward her arm and sent it straight through his chest cavity, in full view of her followers, and closed her claws around his heart. She pulled hard, ripping open his torso and exposing his ivory ribcage, heaving grey lung and flopping arterial tubes. The front row were drenched in blood and viscera, but simply flowed with the insanity and ate or licked it straight off each other as all colour left the man, who had spasmed and uttered a silent scream as the life left him and his blood flooded over his mangled upper body.

The woman held aloft his still-beating heart, and as the crowd screamed their approval, slowly sunk her teeth into the fleshy pump, ripping out pieces of rich flesh as she gasped at the flavour. Her still unchanged hand held the organ while the clawed limb ripped it into four separate pieces, throwing them to the audience.

Who then proceeded to fight each other over the steaming morsels baited to them.

_**We'll sweeten the stench of their lives, with the smell of their burning bodies…**_

The priestess did not bother to wipe her mouth, her teeth dripping red fluid as she intoned the finalities of the prayer to the pulsing drumbeat.

_We will…_

The crowd was literally dancing to the powerful melody, where they weren't attempting to strike each other down over a human heart

_**We'll set their homes to ruin, leave the monsters of nightmare to devour them…**_

_We will…_

_**We will teach them self-respect, the respect for the dead…**_

_They are nothing…_

_**We will…**_

_Kill them, kill them…_

_**We will…**_

_Slay them, slay them…_

Behind the woman, the leaking corpse dropped to the ground and was promptly picked up and thrown into a chute to await incineration. It was obvious to anyone with sense that Hae'l were filled with evil things, and so rotted quickly. Thus was the knowledge of the Sylvaen.

_**Under her gaze… We will make all things good again. **_

_**Cleanse the earth of their touch, the air of their breath, the fires of their hearth, and the water of their waste.**_

_**Cleanse everything of all that is Hae'l, for all that is good.**_

_We will…_

_**We will dispense judgement…**_

The drumbeat began picking up to strike the climatic finale; the Sylvaen striking the massive instrument pounded the skin with force magicka, the booming beginning to supplement the frenzy taking place below.

_We will…_

_**WE WILL SHOW NO MERCY!! BOARD UP, HAE'VANJAGGE!!**_

At that final round of pulses, the music stilled and the air began to cool, the ship filters switching back on to change the atmosphere to something that didn't fug of sweat or blood. The congregation cried out one last time, then rushed back to their assigned seats in the metal monstrosities, or to their places in the transports. No Sylvaen there would want to be caught dead being late to battle.

In the rush, nobody noticed Hive or Feni already inside their two-man War walker that happened to face the podium, eyes tight shut and ears covered by their own trembling hands.

Feni saw Sora, Barret, Namine… her strange short-lived friends. She tried to think of them, safe, secure, unthreatened by war. But she had memories of being one with the crowd before. She couldn't help the visions of them being ripped asunder.

Hive simply prayed that no-one had noticed them.

--

_Drop-hatch seven is clear, Hamo'diven._

"Thanks, Ravaka, how're the rest of the platoon doing?"

_I think it might take a while before we get the artillery into the right hatches, give it 10 min-_

The entire ship rocked heavily as a series of volleys slammed into the hull, the War walkers holding steady due to their clamps. Further down the hangar, fighter craft began to scramble, the plasma exhausts burning white hot from their places in the ceiling suspenders.

_WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!_

_We've got two Hae'l cruisers…_

"Switch that off, Hive! We gotta get the armour ready!" Feni cried from her position in the gunnery platform.

Perhaps a little clarification is needed.

Picture, if you will, a humanoid robot about a metre tall. Now enlarge it by ten in every direction, remove the head, engorge the chest until it grows about as far out as it does up. Where the neck should be is a nest of guns; or a second cockpit, a radar device and a pack of high-powered missiles.

For arms, there is little more than a pair of giant hydraulic claws at the end of double-jointed limbs, or a pair of stabilizers in the artillery models. The legs are massive, giant blocks that resemble an elephant's foot with hinges, armoured against mines, heavy enough to brace against sudden shocks and heavy-weapon fire, flexible enough to cross rocky terrain and the odd hill.

On the chest and back, two pairs of weapons exist, a set of depleted-uranium slug cannons and a plasma-spreader. All of these fearsome weapons are controlled by the gunner located in the upper chest region, unless the pilot believes that the walker is stable enough to be continuously firing and not tip itself over.

Now covered the entire monstrosity with concrete-paint, and wire a human brain into the control-nexus and balancing nexus (Located next to the suspended gyroscopes in the 'groin' of the vehicle) and watch as the Sylvaen bean-counters gloat at how much cheaper a human brain is over an expensive computer. No maintenance, no messy reboots, and only a dram of oxygenated glucose-syrup every twelve days.

This is the War Walker, one of the weapons of the Sylvaen.

And it is in one of these that Hive and Feni find themselves strapped into, the neural link already inserted into their neck and fusing with the spinal cord. The war walker now took direct commands from their nervous system.

"This is Avatar Vespa, all units, activate the linkers! Stand by for aftershocks!"

The power in the metal monster flickered, the plasma core that powered the vehicle could be felt throbbing through the feet as it slowly jerked into life, electronic readouts, HUDs and radio signals coming to life on the cockpits in the machine.

"Hey, Hive, the others are settin' up. Apparently we've got a little time to do a diagnostic." Feni called downwards, opening a screen and doing a system check.

"Right, let me bring up mine, I'll synch with yours." Hive tapped a few points on the screen and waited for the OS to boot up. The control system screeched and whined before calming down. Hive whacked the plate in the direction of the control nexus.

"Shush, you, just because your higher functions no longer work doesn't mean you have to bitch at us. Okay, Feni, what's the status of the Primary ionizers?"

"Green. Secondaries?"

"Green. Core?"

"Green. Mobilizers, hydraulics…"

"Testing, gimme a minute."

The Walker twisted its torso, swiveling around on the bearings on the groin. The arms began doing an accurate portrayal of an Egyptian hieroglyph, shooting out at right angles, the claws at the end flexing with minimal resistance.

"Green. Weapons?"

A series of clicks sounded from the gun barrels on the chest, back, and top. The plasma throwers burped out a tiny pilot compressurizer.

"Green. Running General diagnostic."

Around them, the occasional shudder and bump from outside implied the battle still raged. The clamps that held the war-walkers were attached to ruts in the ground that followed a series of lines. From the look of things, the two Sylvaen would be in the third line to be dropped into the hatches on the other side of the hangar. The ruts slowly moved the machines into position.

"Diagnostic is green!" Feni shouted down, checking the drop-formations again.

_This is Avatar Vespa, how're the others doing?_

_I'd guess about 60 percent are ready. Five minutes._ Came the quick reply.

Feni flinched and squirmed a little, remembering why she hated the seats in the cockpit.

"Auntie! My butt itches!" Hive yelled up the line.

… _You're still on the comm-link, Avatar…_

_Shut up, you. _

They waited for a long, long minutes, bracing against the sides of the walkers when the countermeasures were fired and yawning while the walkers were towed over the ground to the drop hatches.

_We're ready, Hamo'diven!_

"Excellent. All units, prepare for detachment!" Hive ordered into the mic. She switched the channel to the bridge command.

"This is Avatar Vespa, armoured division is prepped and ready!"

"Acknowledged."

She put down the mic, shuddering.

"By all that is good and holy, I hope we can be forgiven."

Feni shrugged, up in the gunnery.

"The time for forgiveness is gone, Hive. The time for punishment is yet to come. Let's enjoy it while it lasts."

"The punishment?"

"Meh, why not? I'm feelin' a little kinky."

--

Yuffie was still shaking when she was brought to the bridge, but who could blame someone who had had to pass by a decapitated corpse that still spurted blood onto her robe as she walked by?

Namine rushed to the girl, grabbing the Wutain Ninja as her legs gave out. Her face was paler than usually, her breath coming in short, panicky gasps as the other humans hurried over.

_What happened to her face?_

_Yuffie? Yuffie! Come on! Talk to us!_

_Hey! Why's her robe covered in… oh my god…_

_Did they do this?_

_Which one? Tell us!!_

Yuffie could only shake her head and point at the commander. Her mouth opened and closed but nothing came out save a speck of blood. The woman in charge of the bridge gave her a funny look.

"Yuffie… It helps if you speak, I dunno, words?" Riku pointed out with a little less sarcasm than usual, hoisting her to her feet and bracing her arm over his back.

After a few gulps, a shudder, and a pulse of healing magic courtesy of Namine, the ninja finally put her thoughts into articulation.

"Why?"

The commander shrugged, barked an order into the mic, and turned back to the group.

"Because."

Riku literally had to tackle Yuffie's feet as she rushed towards the Angelic leader, tripping her onto the cold floor and smacking her already damaged jaw. Bleeding freely, she could only glare at the woman, who seemed amused at her sudden turn of aggression. The air suddenly took a more sinister air, many of the Sylvaen on the bridge looked up from their stations, bemused.

"It's the first time you have seen death, no? Such a pity, I'll have to speak with your _Mashk'hek._" The woman sighed, turning her back on the group.

"Take them away."

When no Sylvaen appeared to remove the children, she sighed again and pressed a series of buttons, looking over a floor guide that had been brought up on the monitor. She typed a command and a series of lights leading out of the bridge shone, following the wall to one of the many corridors.

"Follow the lights. Stray and you will be put to the _Tep'shae._" Was all she said. Riku held onto Yuffie as they slowly walked away, cautious to keep their footing as the ship slowly banked to the right, surprisingly harsh on it's momentum.

Nobody said a word as they walked back.

--

"… And they showed the bodies on the screen, there were _so many_… I couldn't… Faces ripped clean off, eye sockets plucked bare, people burning… And they wouldn't stop _laughing._ They're mad! They're mad! There were so many dead… and they kept saying it was a pity they didn't take children on board…"

Yuffie hiccupped and shivered during the runoff. The reactions were grim, Sora's face fell into an uncharacteristic scowl as he began pacing the room, a tiny part of his head wondered how the door was already fixed after Roxas smashed it open, but the majority of his brain cells ruled in favour of wondering what the hell they'd gotten into.

Roxas and Namine, for the most part, didn't seem to care overmuch. Roxas was shaking from the heart-release of the uncountable dead, Namine simply tried to draw and take her mind off the carnage, with little success. Her pens simply grazed the paper, leaving little lines etched in blue over the crisp whiteness.

Kairi was doing her breathing exercises, her long, slow inhaling barely noticeable under the sounds of combat over them. Thankfully, the intercom channel had remained silent, Roxas ventured that it was due to all communications now being relayed between ground troops and the mothership. He'd actually gone on for about 20 minutes over the methods used in the military base back home until Namine pointed out that _no,_ it wasn't anything to do with relays or radio silence, but more likely to do with the dinner-plate sized piece of shrapnel that was sticking out of the speaker.

Riku, however, was simply watching Yuffie. He hadn't had much of an opportunity to witness somebody in a panic, or in hysterics (Sora's little crybaby performance at The World that never was didn't count. That was just _Sora._). What was he supposed to do? Nobody else was…

Wasn't this Sora's forte? _Why wasn't anyone helping her?_ He looked over at the group. Everyone else seemed to be comforting their significant other. He looked at Yuffie, a thought that fate was metaphorically nudging him in the shoulder and waggling its eyebrows made him stick out his tongue.

_Still, no time like the present._

"Hey… uh… Ninja girl?" In his head, Riku kicked himself in the nuts. _Smooth, dude._

Yuffie didn't raise her gaze, simply shuddered, gripped herself, and lay on her side. The couch seemed to flex to accommodate her new centre of mass, but it didn't make room for her change of mood. Even Namine's healing magic could only reset her jaw and relieve the swelling, but the trauma of war was still to be salved.

"Leave me alone."

Riku clenched his teeth together, looked at the ceiling, the floor, at the others (Who weren't even interested. Seriously, what was with all the space?) and finally at the girl whose back was facing him. He got up, wobbled as the ship changed direction again, and sat down beside her. She didn't move.

"I'm done talking. Go away."

Riku snorted, she was similar enough to Sora that he knew how to handle her.

"Who said I was going to talk?" He smirked on automatic.

"I'm a big girl. I've killed before, you know."

"Those were Nobodies, these are people." Riku reminded her, "And the people here are fucking psychopaths, I'm just glad I wasn't-"

"Would you shut up?! Please, I just want to be left alone, have some peace and quiet. I wanna go home!" Yuffie whined, curling further in on herself. Riku resisted the urge to put his head in his hands and moan.

"Uh… well… hey, what _was_ your home like, anyway? I mean, I've never really been to Hollow Bastion, so…" Riku trailed off. He simply needed to keep her talking, it had always worked with Sora, and unless the gender difference screwed things up, he'd be fine.

"I… don't remember much. I just remember the castle, and the library, and the waterfalls, and the way the rain would…"

Yuffie began spinning an image in Riku's mind. Once, Radiant Garden had been beautiful, a veritable jewel of the worlds where trade and commerce smiled upon the lives of everyday folk. Men, women, creatures and other oddities were completely welcome in the sprawling city, watched from above by the Council in the castle. She didn't know what you had to do to become one of the council (She made guesses that connections, money and smarts were all in the running, but Riku stopped her at 'How uberhot those old grandpa's thought you were).

She continued talking, Riku listening with half an ear as the sounds of battle grew lighter. He couldn't help but wonder…

_They've been gone a while. Are they… are they killing people like us?_

"… But nobody thought they were real, I mean, she didn't use all those tissues for _crying_… Whoa, Mini-Seph, you okay?"

"Just wondering. Do you think we should, you know, call this all off?" Riku looked around, as much as he didn't care for leaving somebody to die, he didn't think it worth all the lives of his friends. He told himself that he wasn't being cruel, simply Pragmatic. They couldn't save anyone if they were dead.

Now if only Sora would think that way…

"We can't."

Riku looked at Yuffie in resignation.

"Not you too?"

"It's not like that. Feni was clever, it's not that we won't go back, it's that we can't. She could easily leave us, and we wouldn't have a way back home…"

Riku winced, that much was true so far.

"Namine could use…"

"Doors to darkness? Yeeeeeahno. Been too long for her." Namine popped up her head at the mention, but didn't speak.

"The gates of the worlds?"

"Sora would have told us. Besides: No Gummi ship." Kairi responded as her friend continued to pace.

"So we're stuck." Riku sighed. Things really didn't seem to be looking up.

--

"You are sure they're the same ones?" The commander turned to her aide, watching the battle progress on the screen. Despite the massive explosion and the death of two of their cruisers, the Hae'l seemed still numerous and willing to war.

"Affirmed, _Vasi._" The man bowed, not willing to test the mood of his superior.

"Strange. And they bypassed the Aural detection? The purging? I wonder where they dredged them up from…" The high angel mused, not electing to share her thoughts with the rest of the crew.

She noted them, all standing at their stations. Monitoring, communicating, relaying… On the surface, loyal vassals to the Avatars, the council, the high mother E'eon.

Beneath, however, lived the righteous warriors of HIST, fighting a civil war that few had guessed to exist. Between those who opposed the endless bloodshed and warflame, and those who reveled in it.

It would be a fine sacrifice, to command vessels of war if it made to the rebuilding of Sylvaen honour… Bringing death to save death held little hypocrisy in the long run.

_Vermin, even those such as Hae'l, have their rights to peace._

She sighed again. Hae'l, capable of magicka and Aural restructuring… She felt that she was growing out of touch with the worlds. Six Hae'l who wiped out a battalion of Inter-city soldiers in a matter of seconds. Too dangerous to let live, most definitely!

And then, she recounted her orders, _An Outcast and six of the wingless will appear on the blood-swept plains. Guide them to the place where an Avatar is foretold to die; they will complete the next objective._

_Allow the Maiden of Momentum and Machine to follow, dismiss her._

_Praise Be._

The commander sighed as more reports came in.

What good were these humans? They were simple _children._

She sighed again, and cursed the worlds for the foolishness of Hae'l.

* * *

_I need more reviews. Seriously, guys, I'm not starting the next chapter until I hit 50. Call me a whiner, but I'm losing my desire the see this one through._


	17. Fight! Win! Prevail!

_Fairly large chapter. Guy wanted it done, 'tis done. no romance, but at least they're out of the world at the end._

* * *

  


"I'm not staying here." Sora spoke softly, simply. "I can't stay trapped in four walls while good men die outside them."

He looked over the others in the chamber, to Kairi who nodded and smiled her encouragement, to Roxas who sighed and gave his own faltering smile. Namine gave him a curious once-over, Riku smirked and said little more than "I should've guessed."

Yuffie, however, grabbed the front of his robe, eyes burning with some dark emotion. "It took you long enough. This isn't a war, Sora. This is Genocide."

"A-ah... I know. That's why we have to do something!" Sora stuttered from the intense gaze the Wutaian had held him in.

"But what? I've done some thinking, guys. We're travelling over three worlds, that's three worlds completely populated by Sylvaen. If we convinced one world to go against the flow, I doubt it would do anything." Namine pointed out.

"Naba said the population was around Seventy-two billion, spread over the dimensions. They all have to answer to something, all we have to do is find out what that is, take it out, and try and make some sense out of everything." Roxas noted, fiddling with his clothing to work out the dead leg the constricting cloth had given him.

"We'll need to make sense, first. Find their leader or leaders, find a way to take them down, set things up so that a more pacifist commander takes the mantle of... Well, whatever they answer to." Riku contributed.

"That's what I said." The nobody huffed.

"I kinda de-retarded it." He shrugged, avoiding the predicted punch as it flew towards his head and catching it with his left palm.

"Asshole." Sora and Roxas chorused, immediately flinched and clutching their forearms as Kairi's face perked up to the prospect of another jinx-beating.

"None of that, Kai. No time." Yuffie grabbed the princess' left arm and twisted it behind her back, "So is that the plan? Get info, use info, beat the shit out of someone, rinse and repeat until desired effect appears?"

"I like the way that sounds, especially the beating." Riku nodded, giving her a toothy smile, she glared back.

"Perve."

The group looked among themselves for disagreement, found none, and chorused their own agreement. The plan, simple as it was, was set.

Sora looked over at the door that bared their way to the rest of the ship. First things first, they needed to get out of the warzone...

--

"Covering fire!!"

Feni's head jerked back as the neural command swarmed down the tap in her spinal cord, the War Walker responded with a heavy drumming of Uranium-depleted slugs into the baked hill of earth to their right, raising a great cloud of earth when the deadly projectiles slammed into the side of the giant mound.

A small squad of Sylvaen lightly skimmed around the blocky legs of the Walker, readying their knives under the hilts of their pistols or flicking the safeties from the rifles that only seconds before had hung from their backs. They could taste the fear of the Hae'l cowering behind the cloud of dust, could smell the blood already...

"Stop the chain! We have confirmation of Hae'l auras thirty _Ta'sam_ behind us, prep the plasma toss!" Hive cried from the cockpit, swiveling the machine on it's waist to face the opposite direction. A rocket smacked into the right flank of the torso, knocking her head against the cramped confines of the cockpit. The infantry had already glided over the hill and begun the slaughter, unseen from the cockpit.

Stars swam inside the head of the young Avatar, and the body of the walker began to twist in an odd manner as the jumbled messages from her brain reached the link.

"Hive! Get this fucking thing back on line! I can't draw a bead!" Feni shouted down the hatch, haphazardly firing round after round in the general direction of the Human encroachers.

"Re... Requesting adrenal stim." She stuttered into the mic, she couldn't lose concentration from a mere knock to the head at a time like this.

_Accorded._

A prick on her arm told her the needle was already filling her body with the stimulant, her head still wasn't thinking straight, but at least she could hold the Walker stable until the drug did its work.

"About time!"

Another series of lurches came as the latest barrage of rockets impacted against the front, before a screech from the firing port indicated that the floating plasma bomb was being calibrated with the air-shell.

"Plasma toss, firing!"

A sudden sense of weightlessness, a feeling of peace suddenly enveloped the two women in the machine as the port launched the pulsating globe. The effects of the compressor in the plasma bank had a strange effect on living organisms, one that had yet to be determined. The soul-felt euphoria faded as the bomb went off, obliterating the squad of Hae'l perched behind the bushes.

The adrenaline kicked in, and Hive's body jerked as the spinal tap overloaded with the ripple of mental activity. The Walker spurred into life, hydraulics and bearings whirring ominously as it stomped forward to eliminate the survivors, writhing in the dirt and flaying at their melting flesh.

Hive grinned at the rush, for even at the cost of so many innocents, the battlefield was a place of incredible _joy._

--

"Who dar- ACK!"

The Sylvaen collapsed as the Thundaga spell struck, twitching and spasming as his muscles protested against the current.

"Looks like a hangar, find a ship!" Namine cried to the group behind her, trying to avoid the anxious looks of the crew staffing the metal cavern. A male angel tripped over a fuel-cord as he backed away from the vicious expression on the face of the former nobody behind her.

"Hold your place, child! This is no locale for infants to perus- GAK!" The woman with a stern expression found herself slammed against the wing of a small hover-tank, unmoving as her broken body collided with the floor.

Roxas laid a hand on the shoulder of his blonde-haired companion, not wanting to know what drove this uncharictaristic hatred. He could _feel_ the rage of the Witch, uncurling in great waves of malice that only told of a desire to harm.

"Uh... Can we help you?" A silver-clad male hesitantly made his way to the front, bowing at some small angle.

"A ship, we need a ship." Sora looked around, finding a streamlined vessel with a tiny pair of wings and a large rocket booster on the back. "We'll take that one."

"Th-that one? Are you sure?" The assumed mechanic spoke bemusedly, noting the serious expressions on the faces of the children. "Well... uh... Just climb in. Sapt'shet'sae, mind opening to the door to model XR-24?" He spoke into the mic around his neck.

All over the hangar, eyebrows raised. Smiles began to break out.

_'Heh, right away.'_ Came the amused reply over the intercom.

"Why's he laughing?" Yuffie questioned as the door opened from the front of the cockpit, revealing two lines of seats, four a side. The apparent lack of controls caused Riku to frown as he reclined into the too-small-to-be-really-comfortable seat at the front.

The others took their places, looking over the cockpit and trying to make sense of the minimalistic screens inside it. All that appeared to be on the green monitors were navigational data and some kind of radar.

"How, uh, how do you fly it?" Sora called out as the cockpit closed. The male only gave him an excited look, nearly bouncing on his feet. He mouthed something through the cockpit walls, but a blast of compressed air from outside and a jolt as the ship began to move along its rails silenced the words.

_Please keep your arms, legs, wings and other vestigal limbs inside the ship at all times. Remember: Bravery will take you into the most dangerous of places. Overwhelming firepower will see you safely through them. _

"Wierd." Kairi stuck out her tongue, Riku and Sora nodded.

_Please take care of your weapons, vehicles, and magicka augments, and they will take care of your foes. Time until deployment is currently 15 parshak, or seven Ramshak in old E'jin._

"Wish these damn translators would tell us what the hell those things are." Yuffie groaned, tapping her forehead.

_We hope you will have a pleasant time serving the Great Goddess E'eon in your soon-death, and we thank you for your sacrifice. Time until deployment is currently 14 parshak. _

"Huh?"

--

The War walker was faring poorly. The servos were leaking fluid, a long ragged gash had torn open the left side of the torso, the slugs were running low and the plasma compressor had exploded and blown a hole through the top of the chest. Sparking electrical wires and hunks of shrapnel gaped from the damaged steel beast.

Still, however, the monster strode forth towards a dead human, presumably to check its vitals. A human soldier, young enough looking to be eighteen or seventeen, rolled from underneath the bush that had been hiding him. Readying the Rocket, he aimed squarely at the back of the roving monolith, thinking of his lover lying motionless with the plasma flare still melting the flesh from her face, and he fired.

The RPG flew almost serenely into the back of the Robot, almost knocking it over and sending fragments deep into the exhaust system. With the motor out of commission, the monstrosity would be rendered harmless, Melissa would be avenged!

--

"Where the fuck did that come from?!" Feni screamed from the top hatch, coughing as smoke began to fill the twin control ports. Quickly and with a slight fumbling of the fingers from shock, she activated the hatch code, allowing fresh air to enter the vessel.

"Why don't you fucking ask the Hae'l? Gimme a damage report!" Hive shouted back, coaxing the machine into swerving around to catch the Hae'l with a terrified expression on his face, beginning to turn and run.

"Sorry, kid, but needs must..." Hive muttered to herself, bracing herself from the bouncing that came with the massive strides the Walker took. With the hatch opened, the great _Karumph, karumph, karumph _from the footfall was clearly audible. The Hae'l in front looked like he was failing to slot another grenade into his launcher, but the space twixt him and certain doom was thinning with every footstep made.

"Right arm is down! Exhaust is clogged, engine is overheating! Armour integrity is shit! I'd give us two minutes!" Feni railed down from her cockpit, grimacing at the extent of the failures the Walker was coping with.

"All I need is one."

The walker took one last step, a massive groaning of metal came from the knee joint before it sunk, falling to the ground and shaking the earth with a massive hiss of steam as the overheating exterior came into contact with the moisture that lay sprinkled over the land.

The Hae'l looked unbelievably relieved, and began edging back towards the fallen metal hulk.

Feni detached from her neural link, peeking over the edge of the hatch as it exited the back of the Walker, watching the man slide down a tiny wet embankment and advance slowly through the steam.

"What's happening, Hive? They don't equip these things with small arms." Feni urged her adopted niece, looking back down the shaft when no answer came back.

"The left arm is still open for use, Fenz." Hive shot back, licking her lips as she focused on the neural control. The man was displayed on her monitor, showing the range the limb could grab. She blinked, and moved her arm.

The Walker shuddered, pieces of metal shedding off the armour as the left arm shot forward and engulfed the Human with a shriek of horror. Through the metal appendage the gibbers of the poor man could be heard as he hammered the unyielding steel with his hands. Feni spoke up, recanting a passage from the _Tome'deyonji_, the book of wisdom.

"_The Master held her palms aloft. 'Behold my wounds,' said she. The onlookers observed the cauterization and the sunlight that shone through her great hands. 'Let there be pain!'"_

The prayer said, she nodded at Hive.

"Sorry, kid."

The hand contracted, a howl of incredible pain, sounds of blood bursting from the flesh splurched into being as the pressure jumped. The faint gurgling continued as the hand relaxed, letting the mush of what was once a man splattered to the ground, steaming as the heat left his corpse.

Hive disengaged from the neural link and tapped her com-link into life.

"Avatar Vespa here. Walker is out of commission, requesting resupply, location is believed secure."

_Sorry, Hamo'diven, but the Rakshasa isn't due to circle over your area for another two Tiva._

"Understood, will salvage what weapons I can, keep in touch."

_For you, Hamo'diven, I would speak all day._

"Uh... 'kay." Hive switched off the link, massaging the back of her neck where a small trickle of blood was leaking from the entry of the neural link. "That Shemazai, I think he's kinda sweet on me... What do you think, Aunt-... Auntie?"

Feni's eyes hadn't left the screen since the remains of the man had fell, mouth slightly agape and gaze intent on the red and white pile before her.

"Auntie... you're drooling..." Hive's chest began to feel heavy.

_Don't tell me... she... Oh goddess, no!_

"Auntie! Snap out of it!" She cried, switching off the screen. The insane, hungry expression still held its mark on the sister of Naba. The hatch was open, the smells of carrion had wafted through, triggering the primal urge within the members of the Moon Clan.

She turned to her neice, teeth gleaming red and white in the dark confines of the cockpit, eyes emonic and wild.

"_Meeeeat. It has been six long, long years since I have tasted... Meeeeeat!!"_ She screamed, turning towards the hatch and rushing to the ladder outside, sniffing the air as Hive fearfully trailed behind.

"_IcansmellitIcansmellitBLOODBLOODBLOODMEEEEEEAT!!"_ Feni roared to the air, turning towards the other dead human that they had intended to check for life. On cue, the man stirred a little, earning a cry of triumph from the berserk angel.

Hive stood up as she exited the cockpit, watching as her Aunt bounded on all fours towards the groaning man, turning her head away as she reached him and resisting the urge to vomit, closing her ears to the noises that followed.

"Who... Please! Please don- HIARRGH!!"

"_MEEEEEEEAT!!_"

Hive finally gave in to the need, emptying her stomach over the fallen walker as the crunching and cracking of sinew torn from the bone by sharp teeth echoed over the warzone.

--

"There has to be an escape hatch somewhere!" Kairi breathed heavily as they searched the only space in the ship they could, the cockpit. The heavy thrumming of the engine and occasional jerk as the quick ship corrected its course. The navigation screens showed the flight path, one that landed in an area filled with concretic circles of red.

_The non-believers climbed for days to confront the master in the mountains. "Where do you get your so-called faith?" they asked. "You brought it," the master replied. "You've all climbed so high."_

"Can somebody shut up that thing?" Roxas called out, thanking Riku when he jabbed the Way to Dawn into the flight computer. A fuzz of static buzzed from the com-link, but was otherwise silent.

The ship, however, suddenly fared a lot worse without its guiding computer. The sudden descent through the group of humans to the back of the ship as the stabilizers faded out.

"WHAT THE PHANTOM MENACE DID YOU DO?!" Sora shouted over the now blaring warnings coming from the cockpit. The ground was now the thing on everyone's mind, especially as it was currently growing on the main monitor.

"I JUST BLEW UP THE COMPUTER!! NOTHING SERIOUS!!" Riku said loudly.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?! THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Yuffie squealed.

"ROXAS TOLD ME TO!"

"YOU'RE BOTH RETARDS!!"

Namine and Kairi, being of much more level-headed design then their other raving companions, took to spell weaving. It was a more viable action than holding what, had this been a different fandom, would have been a passable reproduction of a bunch of teens holding a whining match and pretending to be My Chemical Romance (With complete success, since that's what MCR sounds like to the author, anyway).

"Reflectga and Graviga, on three!"

"One, two, three!"

As the reflections of the world began to surround the ship, a globe of darkness enveloped it, and its descent slowed until it smacked into the ground at a deceptively moderate pace, leaving a long, spherical trough of dirt as it slid across the ground. Eventually, it coasted to a stop and sat sedately, a number of thumps and little curses came from the vessel as the force holding the children against the back diminished to let gravity hold sway once more.

After a few minutes the hatch opened, revealing a collection of slightly bruised children to the warzone, keyblades at the ready. The ship was surrounded by a cloud of soot, but to those watching the ship as it crashed into the battle... armed with Carbon-14 radiation sensors...

A loud cracking noise came from the horizon, and Sora fell to the ground in a spray of blood, a tunnel running through the muscle in his shoulder already carved by the Sniper's bullet.

"Namine! Shield! Somebody help me carry him in! Close the door!" Kairi yelled as more shots came from the behind the dust and dry air. Wincing at the _ping_s that emanated from the reflectga spell, Kairi dragged Sora until he was out of the way of the door, tending to the shuddering boy as his breathing grew ragard, traumatized by the sudden loss of feeling in his arm.

Kairi's healing magic managed to stem the bleeding, and as the door clunked into place, the flesh began to grow back. Sora's voice murmured high-pitched nothings as the pain began to overwhelm his senses.

The group huddled in silence around him, holding his hand or whispering reassurances as the cavity finally closed. His left shoulder had a strange, pock-marked scar now running over the flesh wound, but was otherwise now simply sore.

"Shit. Not good." Roxas swore as Sora sighed, a little saliva escaping his mouth. They could hear oncoming footsteps as their assailants began to approach the ship.

"What should we do? I'm out of Magic, so's Kairi." Namine told the rest, eyes scanning the front monitor. Judging by the caution and the grim expressions that they could make out through the soot, they looked human.

"Wait it out?"

"Shhh... They're speaking."

The voices made themselves heard, low and menacing as the opinions were swapped back and forth.

_'Damnez-vous, Paul! Vous avez été censés viser la tête!'_

_'Ce n'était pas ma faute! L'ange fichu a bougé! Si vous avez nettoyé mon fusil comme j'avais demandé à ...!'_

_'Regarde, organisez juste Jerrie ici avec les explosifs. Nous pouvons juste les détruire ici et maintenant.'_

_'Je comprends. Jerrie, vous êtes là ? Entré, Jerrie!'_

_'Jag er här, vad är tillfällen?'_

_'Parlez le français, vous l'idiot! Je ne comprends pas de suédois!'_

"I don't get it? Are they humans?" Yuffie whispered from behind her chair, fingering a pair of kunai and coating them with a neurotoxin. Roxas shook his head.

"They're speaking French, they're human."

"So why are they shooting us?"

"Let's see, we dropped out of a Sylvaen ship, are wearing Sylvaen clothes, have some kind of Aura or whatever... and this is a warzone."

"Apart from that."

"Uh... They find our hairstyles ridiculous?"

_'Je dois dire, ce bouquet avait les coiffures les plus étranges...'_

"Well... what do we do? Wait for help?" Sora gasped as he flexed his arm.

"Looks that way, I don't think they can get in..." Namine looked at the unyielding door, jumping as a _clang_ echoed through the thick hull plating.

"Fine..."

--

_Uh... Hamo'diven, this may be a bad time, but..._

Hive shuddered as Feni stumbled back from her canabilisation, mouth and chest smeared with blood and a vacant look in her eyes. She held a finger to the com-link and sighed.

"Spit it out, Shemazai."

_The... uh... the charges of the warden apparently ran into Hangar number 12-b, you see, and... uh..._

"Twelve-b? The hangar with the experimental velocity ships? What the hell were they doing there?" She gasped, nudging Feni and nodding her head, holding out the earpiece that both could listen in.

_Yeah, see... they kinda took one of the ships._

"Oh shit."

_Yeah, that's not all. They took the XR-24._

"The suicide trooper-injection?! The one for landing martyrs into highly contested zones to cause a final distraction? Why didn't anyone stop them?"

_They were... somewhat rude. Vi'kita is dead, we think Ka'ja has brain damage._

"Shit shit shit! I can't... no, this is serious. Put me through to command, it's time I brought them to heel!" Hive's teeth pulled back into a snarl as she shook Feni's shoulder.

"Can you augment?" She breathed, catching Feni's nod.

_This is command. By whose authority do you address me?_

"This is Avatar Vespa. I am going pure, repeat, I am going pure!" Hive barked into the mic, catching Feni's shocked expression.

"Can you do that?" The sister asked, tone disbelieving.

"It's been six years, Auntie. A lot has changed."

_Acknowledged, withdrawing all forces._

"Holy shit, you _can_ do it!" Feni's mouth dropped, "Wha-... when? How?"

"Feni, Augment. **Now.**" Hive's voice changed on the last syllable, suddenly sinister in the falling gloom of the oncoming dusk.

"I... I do as you will."

Feni began forming hand-signs, and as the sigils flared into existence in the chilling air, her body slowly consumed itself in a grainy white light that send tendrils towards her neice, drawn into her body and disappearing from view.

"**Good.**"

Hive looked towards the ship, where a siren had begun to sound. Ships were beginning to enter the hull of the vessel, carrying the wounded and well alike as they began to pull away from the catastrophe that would occur.

"**Peon! You will give me the Location of the child-kin! Perform, or suffer the unforgiveness that spawned the first nightmare!**" Hive growled into the mic, a grim smile appearing when the readout appeared on her wrist computer.

She turned in the direction of the children, her body beginning to radiate with a power both divine and terrible.

"**I am the Avatar. There will be no mercy from here on out, little Hae'l.**"

In a blur, she vanished into nothingness.

--

The door opened to light, to the form of an angel cloaked in a stained combat vest and white lines for eyes. Bullets halted to fall motionless from her raging form as tendrils of silver wisps of some strange substance flowed around her body.

"Holy..." Sora stuttered.

"**Yes. I am.**"

The Sylvaen nodded to herself, turning to face the ten-man squad pouring round after round at her terrible visage.

"**The world shall turn and the human race shall pass. Everything begins anew. The faith has run its course and it is over. You are destined to die now, Hae'l. Run, run far away and be spared seeing of the horror that I shall unleash.**"

"Is... is that Hive?" Kairi asked, her tones laden with fear. The hair, the skin, the height and face were the same except for the silver markings and white eyes that now covered her face.

"**Die now, Hae'l.**"

Hive raised a single hand, and there was a feeling of incredible suction and a sudden need to twitch swamped the children. The hairs of all present charged with static; Sora's necklace and Kairi's earring swung towards each other, causing a little discomfort but otherwise ignored as the world went white.

When the glare disappeared, Ten men and women lay on the ground, arcs of electricty still crawling over the charred bodies and grounding in the earth. The muscles of the dead, burned beyond the ability to convulse, smoked and caught alight in the aftermath of the Electrical bolts.

"**You should continue to the next world, I will follow shortly.**" Hive turned towards the children.

"Wha-... what's going to happen?" Riku coughed as the putrid smoke wafted inside the cabin.

"**E'eon has given me the power to judge. This planet is now condemned, I will conjure the Maelstrom and kill everything that breathes, swims and grows on it. Feni will take you to the HIST outpost.**"

"I... what?"

"**Peon, awaken and perform.**"

A globe of dirty silver flowed from the markings on Hive's face, forming and dropping the sister Sylvaen in the dirt. She got to her feet, gave a little smile, and tried to scrape the blood from her vest.

"**You what you must do. The high one knows of you and will meet you at the last place of repose. Leave here now, Peon and Hae'l, forget this wasteland.**"

The Avatar clenched her fist and slammed it into the air behind her. A feeling of universal sursurration, and the open space turned into a iris-coloured portal.

"**Walk through, and hasten thus. I have a doomsday to visit.**" Hive huffed. When nobody seemed to move, she waved her hands and used the magne-graviton incantation to to pick up the multitude. It was a trick she'd seen D'java use often enough, and it never ceased to amaze her how easy it was to do now that she was pure-formed.

With a careless flick, the Avatar of the Force Clan hurled the children through the portal.

She turned back to the world around her as the dimensional gate closed.

"**Now then...**"

--

_Moving._

_Tumbling._

_Falling._

_Shifting._

_Here._

_There._

_White._

_Closing._

_Near._

_Snow._

"Ahhhhh... Cold!" Roxas cried out as he pulled himself from the clinging ice puffs, Nanime and Riku pulling Yuffie out of a particularly huge drift as the others collected themselves.

"Never want to go through that again." Kairi muttered, patting the side of her head to dislodge some snow from her ear, taking in the Alpine scenery. They were in a forest, definitely. Pine and Winter beech surrounded them, the world as quiet unlike anything the children had ever experienced, growing up around constant wavefall and machinery.

"Amen to that. I... I just can't believe..." Yuffie spat, cleaning her tongue, "... I loved stories about angels when I was a kid..."

"... Santa Claus strikes again." Riku finished, getting odd looks. "It turned out to have a little truth, but it's nothing like we could have imagined. I'm just glad we're alive... Hey, are you alright?" He asked Feni, noting the smears on her face and vest.

"I'm... fine."

"So where's the town?" Namine spoke up, unable to find any clues as to where to go. Sora just lay back and tried to take dead breaths.

Feni looked around, noted how the trees were placed in a psuedo-random pattern, almost as though somebody had made a giant checkerboard using the trees as edges.

"I think we're standing on it."

* * *

_Reviews, suggestions, community-entrances... DO WANT. Gimme. That is all. Romance might kick off next chapter._


	18. In Transit, On transit

_A bit faster to update this time. Now, if anyone wants to do fanart, add this to a community, or recommend it, go right ahead. I ain't stopping you._

_A little bit of relationship development here, Sora, Kairi, Roxas and Namine have yet to get their own scenes on that but, as they say, time wounds all heels, and that makes you lie down. And lying down leads to yum._

_Enjoy!_

_--lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalal_

The sun glittered over the crystalline snow lying over the hilly countryside like a dead duck, coating the rolling land with browns and whites and a splash of red from some unknown winter tree that refused to shed. Conifers stood solemnly in the quiet wilderness, the occasional tiny crunch from a Rabbit running over the ice could be heard over the silent prominence.

A scene of such natural beauty and peace could easily provide the inspiration for a thousand masterpieces.

Over the next hill, however, came the echoes of a few people who did not have such luxury.

"I'm serious! I don't know how to get down there!"

Other than that, there was a peace that reigned undistur-

"Somebody burn their way through the ice? Anybody?"

…A peace that reigned undis-

"Sora, what part of 'We're out of magic' do you not understand?!"

…_A peace that reigned-_

"I don't suppose anyone brought matches?"

"You idiot!"

… _Ah, shove it._

The Author, in exasperation, decides that rather than listening to the distant voices, he would rather pan the narrative view over the hill to view the spinney of pines that marked out the square checkerboard of snow. The children were either shouting at each other, huddling closer for warmth, or doing other things to improve their circulation. The resident Sylvaen was knocking on the pinesin a vain hope that one of them would give the hollow boom that foretold of an elevator.

Sora was trying to climb a tree in order to get a better view of the countryside. Even through the constant knocks appropriate for a young man scaling a slippery, gripless surface, he seemed in good cheer.

Kairi was rubbing her hands and had withdrawn into her robes to save body heat, occasionally sending a concerned look over where the brown-haired rascal was scrambling up the tricky pines. Every time he fell, she would make to get up, but cease as he smiled and made another try. From there, she kept her eyes firmly on his rear.

Namine seemed to have had an idea, summoning her art kit with her last reserves of stored magic and extracted a curious-looking device akin to a sextant, lining herself up with the trees and peering into the eyepiece for reasons unknown. Roxas took his place by her side, trying to deduce what she was after.

Riku, on the other hand, was trying to build a snow hut with very limited success.

"I don't think they should be collapsing when you sneeze…"

"I don't see you building this thing!"

Yuffie was giving somewhat dubious advice, and whenever Riku began tamping the snow to fortify it while counting his presses, the ninja would call out random numbers.

"Four… Five… Six… Seven…"

"Twelve!"

"… Thirteen, Fourt-… shit…! One… two… three…"

"Ten thousand and four!"

"Fuck you!"

She would then proceed to point out other flaws, giggling to herself at the rapid decline of Riku's temper.

"I don't think you should build it so close to the tree…"

"Hey, I need something solid to brace the wall against!" He called back, "Look, It's been standing up for five minutes… _No! Sorawhatthehellwereyoudoing?!_" He cried out in exasperration as the Keyblade Master fell onto the white structure.

"Uh… Climbing the Tree?"

"Argh!!"

At one point she halted the teasing to have a brief chat with Kairi on the topic of the Princess of Heart and keeping warm and the use of Sora thereof. Riku had kept an eye out, and he swore that they could have used Kairi's face to melt the white crap that surrounded them. At least Yuffie had found a new victim.

Shoring up the next curving wall, Riku turned his thoughts inward. So far, nothing had occurred regarding the nightmare creature he had transformed into on the night of the Dusk attack. He could feel its presence if he concentrated, a ball of pressure, faint but impossibly tight and curled up inside him.

He thought that if anything, all the bloodshed and death that had been going on around him would have weakened his resolve and made the taint harder to resist. As of yet… nothing. He couldn't help but wonder whether the shadow was sentient, a part of his darker nature, or the last shreds of Ansem's power. Either way, it was something he would gladly be rid of.

The war had showed him horrifying things, no doubts about it, but he hadn't actually been in the thick of it, and while the implication of the carnage was clear in everybody's minds, they hadn't seen it.

All in all, the battlegrounds had strengthened their resolve, not left them traumatized. There was still the will to continue; Naba had lived with humans for at least eight years, so he had to be on their side, and worth saving.

… Right?

He shook his head to clear the doubts from his brain, and focused again on the possible menace inside him.

Was that what Sora had endured for the six months since he had been home? He made up his mind to ask him about it the first chance he got, after some good food, a warm bed and a shower…

A sudden impact in the back of his head left an imprint of his face in the wall he was building. Brushing himself off and feeling the crisp chill of the snow clinging to his hair, he looked around for the origin of the offending projectile.

Sora? Climbing tree like a dumbass. Not him.

Feni, Roxas, Namine… out of sight. Unknown.

Kairi? Giggling suspiciously. Possible suspect.

Yuffie? Twiddling thumbs and looking at the sky with flecks of snow still on the brace of her sleeves, nonchalant expression painted over face. Bingo.

"That's it!" He cried, gathering snow with his arms and fashioning the globe of ice to biff at the Ninja's head. The snowball sailed quickly past her head as she leaned to the side, nudging a laughing Kairi and whispering something that made the Princess blush anew.

Another pair of spheres shot towards her, one missing by a metre and the other smacking into Kairi's chest, earning a faint cry of irritation.

"It's going to soak in now!"

"Hey, Sora, your girlfriend's top is wet!" Yuffie cried out.

"Seriously? Wher-_Oh Crap_!"

As the Keyblade master fell to the ground yet again, Riku took advantage of Yuffie's momentary distraction to craft another two balls and rush her position. The Wutain cried out in mock despair before dashing off at right angles towards Riku's left.

He pursued her, putting all his frustration and desperate helplessness into every sinking step as he weaved in and out through the trees, following her prints.

The chase was on.

--

"Twenty five seconds! All units reporting, leave the dead behind, we're clearing this world!"

The Commander of the Ravana watched outwards to the growing plume of silver light from the cockpit as it began to span the horizon. The few refugees of the world who remained alive huddled together on the bridge as they took one last, long look at their doomed homeworld.

"_Maa'si_, I wanna go home!"

An infant, not five years old, squealed and cried with melodramatic sobs as the ship neared the portal-vector, begging her mother to return. Her sole parent, in return, stroked her head and shushed her.

"Where Ki'bi? Where Mannsk? Where Puj'd? Where my friends, _Maa'si_?!"

"They have gone, child. Taken by the impure, cast into the void to dance and play with the others who went before them." The Commander's aid spoke for her, the lack of tact resulting in a burst of fresh tears as the youngster tried to force the universe into giving her friends back.

The Commander herself simply sighed.

_Ah, the truth, dear child… I doubt anyone here except I know the true extent of the horror that truth can bring. Having a HIST informant tell the Hae'l of the ship-portal, staging the slaughter of my own race, bringing the Avatar of the Force Clan to destroy the planet and eliminate the mistrust the council placed upon her…_

_All to protect a Daemon king who holds the platonic heart of our mightiest warrior. All to destroy the thirty Sylvaen elders who guide this fruitless, useless war. All to crush ten thousand years of unbroken tradition… and to use the Hae'l who will begin the Insurrection. _

_They are the key to the beginning, but we shall draw the next battlefield, and the next, and the next…_

_The truth, dear child, is that someday you may just kill the friends of those Hae'l to avenge your own if we do not put an end to this and break the cycle of retribution…_

… _By the Holy Mother, but the truth is terrible._

"Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven…"

The navigational supervisor counted down the time till the portal-matrix ripped open the dimensional barrier, the blue and white nebula burst forth from the void the machine had created. The sounds of an ethereal waterfall called through the hull as the ship began to leave the world.

There was only one thing to do.

"Three… Two… One…"

"Avatar Vespa, Cleanse this system of sin. Praise Be."

_**Praise Be.**_

--

"Where'd she go?" Riku huffed to himself as he checked the clearing for tracks, already out of sight from the others and slowly wandering the white landscape. The concept of getting lost hadn't entered his mind; he kept a line of where he had been by carving lines through the trees he had passed with his Keyblade.

Now, however, he was beginning to wonder whether Yuffie had gotten lost herself. She really did take after Sora, he mused, wondering if that was the reason he and she could never get along.

_When did me and Sora stop fighting and start teasing?_

A vision of a seven-year-old Kairi crying as both boys tried to placate her with sweets and milk flashed past his eyes and was gone.

_Ah. I have to owe Princess I'm-not-a-tease for that one._

He looked up at a sudden sound of rushing air behind him, holding the Way to Dawn out in front of him, trying to focus his senses.

_What is she playing at? Is it even her?_

It took around ten seconds before Riku realized that he could smell something over the tinny tang that was snowfall. Something that had an unplacable scent, like passionfruit seeds and cut grass mixed together in one confusing aroma.

For the life of him, he couldn't figure out what is was or even where it came from. He half contemplated closing his eyes to increase his nasal perception, but that would mean-

_Movement._

Before he could even twitch in response, Riku felt a weight slam into his back, pitching him over into a bank and twisting the Keyblade out of his grasp. Lithe hands began pulling his arms behind his back in an attempt to immobilize him, but years of roughhousing with Sora had taught Riku enough to gain back the advantage from his unknown assailant.

Hitching his foot against a tree root unearthed by the scuffling, Riku pushed himself forward and jolted his right arm out of the hand of whoever had attacked him. He slid it underneath his chest, pushing himself up into a one-elbow pressup that caused the foe on top of him to begin sliding and actually grab the shoulder of his robes to keep its balance.

With a grunt of effort, the Silver-haired boy pushed himself off the ground and twisted to grab the hand on his shoulder and land on his side, his other hand still immobilized and beginning to throb with the pain of restriction. A muffled feminine gasp sounded out, causing him reason to pause.

"Ninja girl?"

"Name's Yuffie, idiot." Came the sharp reply, followed by a yank on the captured arm.

"Care to explain?"

"Needed to blow off some steam."

"From what?"

"Getting hurt, doing nothing, getting lied to… yeah."

"Oh yeah, the marks on your face… How did they happen, again? You never told us." Riku spoke up from their strange position, aware that thanks to Namine's magic, the unsightly blemishes were no more.

"Skidded over the floor and whacked into something. End of story."

"Likely story. Getting beaten by the floor."

"Says the man who can't fight against a girl who weighs half of what he does."

"Oh, it's go time now!"

Riku yanked the hand he held as he rolled left, hoping to pull the Ninja across his stomach where he could have both his hands free to push her off.

What actually happened was that Yuffie saw the move coming, disengaged from his left hand in order to place her own on the space beside his head as she sweep her legs over to encircle his. Taken by surprise, Riku was then unable to prevent her from changing her grab on his once-taken-once-free appendage once more, pinning him to the ground. He with his legs straight, her pulled down until she was nearly straddling him.

Riku ran a quick tally. She had his left hand pinned, he had her right wrist, he couldn't twist out with her knees next to his hips, she couldn't move without breaking hold on his hand.

Stalemate.

He turned his attention to her face, a frown resplendent in its intensity as the Ninja understood their predicament. Or, at least, that was what she seemed to be thinking.

_Could be constipation, for all I know._

He returned her piercing stare, trying to understand the secrets behind those dark irises, the black pupils as they wandered over his face, no doubt searching for his own weaknesses.

"Give up?" He spoke amusedly, almost casually. The type of tone had always provoked Sora, and he was trusting to the similarities between him and Yuffie to work their magic.

She snorted, however. "Excuse me? You're on the bottom, I've got you pinned."

"You can't do anything now, though. One move; and I have you." Riku bluffed, not sure if his reflexes could handle the fast Wutai girl.

"I'll just need to make a good move, then."

"You've got all the time in the world, Ninja girl. I'm looking forward to this."

The two of them continued their glaring competition, failing to intimidate each other in the slightest. The seconds passed; the grip they possessed as yet undiminishing while Yuffie thought out the next move.

The Ninja stayed deep in thought before blinking, shrugging and licking her lips a little.

"Got an idea."

Riku smirked again. "Like I haven't figured what you're gonna do."

Yuffie grimaced. "Whatever. Iku yo!"

Riku braced for her to roll off him and pull his left arm to smack his face into the snow, but he had made plans against that occurrence and had dug his feet in to prevent her from budging him.

From there, he would be able to use her kickback to wrench his arm free, grab her waist, flip her over and sit on her legs while he immobilized her. It was a perfect maneuver!

Or, at least, it would have been.

Instead, Yuffie leaned down and kissed him.

So much for the plan.

--

**I am the will of E'eon. I am the Avatar of the Holy clan of Force. Gravity, Electrons, Movement, Radiation, Momentum, Pressure. These things are the tools of the will of E'eon, granted to the one that is I.**

Hive's hands worked in a blur, her stance shifting to better accommodate the mystical pocket-dimensions that now flowed through her body, opened and contained by the Avatar Spirit housed inside her.

**The Holy Mother, the Great Goddess, the founder of all that is good and benefactor of the Pure, the Hae. She who dwells in the pure land, the Hae'van. She who grants those who live righteously, the Syl, with life. She who grants the righteous collective, the Sylvaen, with power. To E'eon, all praise goes. To E'eon shall all praise be.**

The pocket dimensions, areas of space curved in on themselves by the bizarre mechanics of oversaturated energy, unlocked within the extra meta-space provided by the Spirit that inhabited the body of the young Latino Angel. Power poured from her body in waves, setting alight the earth around her in a widening circle.

**In this time of great sadness, she has given unto the one that is I the power to silence a grieving world. I shall put this world to rest, for the purity of existence. Let Sorrow grace this universe no longer.**

The pouring became a flood, roaring over the lands and incinerating everything it touched in an instance, a rolling blue-white wave of liquid fire that crackled and sparked from the strength of the electric field it had generated.

**But one cannot still an aching heart by scratching the skin, or peeling the flesh away. No. E'eon has decreed that the heart of this planet be stopped, rendered gone forever.**

The Blue Maelstrom leapt from the flat surface of the globe that it encompassed, turning into great lances of energy that struck downward and thrust through the crust of the planet.

**Your forgiveness I beg, noble one. It grieves me that I must slay you. But I must protect others like you who are in peril, and for the judgement of the eternal one.**

Nothing seemed to happen, and then a sudden sense of pressure struck down upon the world. The remaining humans on the continent found the air squeezed from their bodies, gasping for breath.

**You feel this, planet? Your mantle, your blood, I am pushing it. It hurts, it feels of agony, I know. But soon it will be over. Your tears will be shed at last. I shall push and push until you are so tight that you think you might burst.**

Parts of the scenery disappeared from view; a massive chunk of land that spanned the horizon fell into the glowing red depths below with a great groaning. The air suddenly rushed to accommodate the empty maw.

**And then, I shall send the trigger, you will fuse and combust. For a glorious minute, you will not glow, but shine.**

The seas began to fall into the gaping maws created from the loss of the mantle and the cracking crust. The water would not evaporate yet, it was too far down and would not have time to reach the heat. Another hunk of the continent fell to Hive's right, freefalling into the vacuum below.

**For that moment, planet, you will be a star of the cosmos.**

Hive could feel the rushing of blood in her ears as she felt the approval of her Spirit, and charged the neutron bomb to set off the reaction deep in the now-compressed core.

**You will be beautiful, the purity of art, shining like a galactic mayfly.**

The focus of her power now centred on a ball that she could hold in her hands, was holding in her hands. She would not need to create a dispersion barrier for the charge to protect it from falling apart; it was heavy enough with energy that it had its own gravitational cohesion.

**You will be, for that fraction of a lifetime, a God.**

She placed the ball towards the centre of the collapsing planet, ready for the escape from the oblivion.

**Just like me.**

She fired, the ball tearing through the rock as if it were never there. She fell with the collapsing rocks, crafting the portal in their wake.

**Praise be, noble one. Praise be to E'eon, and to you.**

The portal formed as she fell, Hive vanished from the universe and the condemned planet.

A minute later, the charge hit the extremely dense, extremely hot core, starting the chain reaction.

A second after that, the universe's largest Atomic bomb exploded with a surreal scream.

--

_Warmsoftwetmovingwarmsoftwetmovingwarmsoftwetmoving-Breathe-Warmsoftwetmoving…_

For the first few seconds, Riku stared out into space with a shocked expression, completely unable to comprehend the current turn of events.

Then his subconscious decided that his current plan of action, that of lying there and doing absolutely nothing, was no exactly what it felt was required in that situation. It opened the mental equivalent of a slideshow in Riku's forebrain, lecturing on the best angle, how to work the lips, what-not-to-do's and all the other subtle things that made the difference between a tolerable kisser and a good one.

_-Breathe-_

Making up his mind, Riku started to kiss back, trying to fight his impulses to slip a bit of tongue into the bargain as the moist warmth began to overwhelm him. He was surprised at just how easy it was to lose track of where he was once he got into it, the faint taste of blood on her lips pushed him to run his tongue over them, earning him an appreciative moan from the girl on top of him.

She moved her hips closer to rub up against his, the subtle grinding motions she made against his crotch coaxed his own bitten-off groan.

_-Breathebreathe-_

He couldn't deny it; his body was beginning to react. The tightness in his underwear (Did he still have his boxers under the robes? He couldn't remember), the slowly growing ache in his hardening prick, the flush on his skin all gave the same urging.

_Fuck her for all she's worth!_

He shut down that train of thought as fast as he could, feeling her tongue graze his as he worked on her lips, tasting a heady rush that was half nervousness and half utter, desperate lust. Releasing her wrist, he brought his hand to rest behind her neck as he pulled her in closer, holding her waist as she let go of his hand in return.

Her own fingers traveled along his chest as she slowly shifted over him to better close her lips over his. They pried open the folds of his robe, teasing his collarbone as they began to trail gently down…

"Nipple twist!"

"AAAAAAARRGHSHITOWOWOW!!"

The ninja detached from the man and sprung to her feet, robe rumbled and lips reddened from the light 'session' she had started.

"I win, Mini-Seph!"

Riku rolled on the ground, nursing his tortured chest and cursing the world in general.

"Come _on_, Seduction is one of the first things you learn as a Kunoichi! Finally, I got to use it! Zanuff-sensei's going to be stoked!" Yuffie bragged aloud.

"I'm happy for you, really…" Riku half-heartedly replied, unable to use proper sarcasm after the attack on his man-buds.

"Hey, come on, at least you got to kiss me." Yuffie shrugged, "There are starving kids in third world countries that would… well, anyway, the score is officially one to me!"

She turned and walked away, leaving a stunned Riku behind her.

--

"Well, I'm drawing a blank." Feni sighed, sketching random patterns with a stick in the snow.

"Looks like a giraffe." Came the unhelpful reply.

"Dumbass, I mean I can't find out how to get to the city below. No air vents, no elevators, no nothing."

"Well, I think I might have the answer." A soft voice sounded from the woods, followed by Namine's gentle features as she and Roxas stepped out to join the others.

"Do tell."

"I've been working out the positions of the trees, and there are two of them that don't fit the pattern. Roxas checked them out and found a couple of cut-out marks on them, I think I know what they are, but I'd like to know which is which…" Namine presented her sketchbook to the Sylvaen, watching quietly as Sora and Kairi wandered over to investigate.

"This one? _Bud'je._ 'Here'. This one is _Kod'je_. 'There'. Mind explaining, shortstack?" Feni sighed, staring helplessly at the checkered pencil marks on the white paper with two crosses marking the odd ones out.

"I think this is some kind of map, planted years ago. The marks on those trees looked like they haven't healed over the cuts. And since the cuts looked really old, it would make more sense if this was some kind of escape zone or something…"

"You think this was a drop-off point, not a city? Like for the normal people running away or something?" Roxas chipped in.

"Maybe, can Sylvaen portal anywhere they want, or do they have to come out at certain locations?" Namine questioned the alien authority.

"Depends on the power and the size of the portal. Avatars can usually portal wherever the hell they want because they've got the juice to force open gates wherever they want. The rest of us either use Subspace engines on the big ships or fire open a dormant portal link that already exists."

"But Hive didn't burn anything when she threw us through." Roxas pointed out.

"Huh?"

"I mean, remember when Naba chucked us? Wasn't he an Avatar and everything? He burnt down the cottage and steamed up the pool and-" Sora started to ramble but was cut off by a surprisingly thoughtful-looking Feni.

"That's a point; she didn't set up a breach barrier." Hive breathed out, "Okay, I think I might have a clue as to why Hive kicked us to the wrong planet-"

"We're on the wrong planet?"

"-But you kids'll need to go to each of the four corners of the tree square, and see if you can find any symbols, just copy them onto the back off your hands. Namine, if you would lend us some pencils… thanks. I'm going to study the portal-gate, you kids go have fun."

--

_How soon will it be?_

The voice was masculine, quiet, studied and above all, patient. Like a rose petal, gliding lightly through the air to land daintily at one's foot, sifting around the dust and dirt to grace the ear. Its owner turned in his seat to face the young angel who walked through the door.

_They… had to take a little detour towards here. They'll figure it out soon enough, it's a shortcut, but perhaps a dangerous one._

Hive's voice echoed in reply to the man, walking into the great hall of statues. The man himself was gazing intently at a sculpture of a well-built angel, holding a massive halberd and trying to pry a dagger from its side. The expression of agony in his eyes was extremely life-like.

_Danger is a risk, little Avatar. I don't like risks, it took eight years to bring this scheme to the point where it is today, I expect to have some return on my investment._

The man turned in his chair to look at another statue, this one almost three metres tall. It was the same angel, gazing longingly at something in the distance and holding a sun-shaped disk of metal.

_Will I be compensated for having them over under my wing?_

_You will be._

_I should hope so._

_Was that a threat, Lord Assassin? _

_Great Mother, no. I am simply… expressing my anticipation._

Hive looked at the back of the chair, where the other Angel stayed out of sight. He picked a rose by the stem from a beaker of water, brought it to the front of the seat, and returned it.

_There are factors we did not count upon._

_Oh?_

_The children are… chaotic. Unpredictable, yet not. They follow a credo which may come into conflict with our interests, should they know the truth._

_Perhaps I should have sent Mek'ta, his specialty lies with chaos…_

Hive gasped, clenching her hands together and growling.

_That… That backstabber? You know as well as I that it would set us back by twice as much. He follows his own agend-_

_-Avatar, that was merely a 'perhaps'. It is too late now. Anything else to inform me about?_

_The Heretic, Feni, has been on a vegetarian diet. You know what that means._

_Ah, so the fabled bloodlust and cannibalism of the Moon Clan came to the fore, did it?_

_In the middle of a battlefield, no less._

_Avatar, you understand as well as I that there is no stopping the animalistic side of the Moon Clan from taking hold in times of stress, you should have taken steps to ensure her primal need did not surface._

__

There were… factors that I did not foresee.

The man laughed, there was no amusement in his chuckle.

* * *

_My dear, you should always prepare for unforeseen consequences._

__

Yeah? What next, aliens flying through our portals and enslaving our race in seven hours?

_Scoff not, Avatar. It may of happened, somewhere._

Hive sighed, and made to leave. The man spoke up as the door to the hall creaked open.

_Going so soon, Avatar? Oh, yes. Rest. Destroying a planet is always so taxing. And now you can't do it for another twelve years, so sad._

_Knock it off, Lumaria._

The door closed, and the man laughed sincerely this time.

--

"Hey, Feni!"

The other five children waved as Sora clumped into the middle of the frozen clearing, chattering as the wind picked up. Riku was still red (He'd been like that since he returned, maybe he'd caught a fever?) and the others were still lazing about as the portal matrix spelled out its working in front of the Sylvaen.

"I got the symbol!" He declared, holding out his palm and showing the sweat-smudged crayon mark.

"_Toa'en_. 'Group'. Yup, I thought as much." Feni sighed, cancelling the matrix. "It _is_ a map, we've been wasting our time."

"Well, yeah, just as well we forgot we had ethers, or we'd have wasted them by now." Kairi pulled out the little cubes from a pocket in her sleeve for emphasis. "We only have fifty."

"So… What do the symbols mean?" Yuffie nudged Riku, who blinked and shook his head.

"_Hae'l. Ista'halabem. Sylva. Toa'en._ HIST. The Society for the protection and integration of humans. The insurgent organization of the Sylvaen empire." Feni explained, drawing the runes herself, "D'java's mentor, Kaed'jii, set it up in secret to divert power away from the Sylvaen war council."

"So they're the good guys?" Namine looked over the markings, pulling out her sketchbook to copy them.

"They're just guys. They'll still kill you if you get in their way, but otherwise they're fine." Feni sighed, "Well, the portal has a secondary location, but it's locked unless you have the password… Here we go…"

As Feni drew the four symbols in the air, The others huddled together.

"What should we do after this? You guys think it's safe?" Roxas whispered.

"Well, the last time Feni said we were fine, we went through the warzone." Kairi reminded him, casting a glance over to where the Sylvaen had opened the portal, trying to make it work.

"This place is fine, though, nobody died. No explosions, as far as I can see." Sora piped up, before getting a bonk on the head from an unimpressed Riku.

"We don't know how far away this place is, thought. Hey, Feni! How far away is this place?!"

"I'd say about thirty clicks!" Came the distracted reply.

"Oh. Doesn't sound so bad, I guess." Riku shrugged.

"Holy shit, Riku's satisfied?" Yuffie spat, sulking for some unknown reason.

"Hey, how about you-!"

"Guys, can we keep it down?" Namine winced, holding her ears, "I think my eardrum burst when the pressure dropped on the plane…"

"Oh, sorry!"

"Sorry, Nami."

"My bad."

"So, anyway…"

"Yeah… uh…"

"Let's just go in."

"Whatever."

"Fine by me."

The portal shimmered into life behind them, and the troupe walked through, dragging their feet through the snow.

--

_Targets have shifted position, I repeat, targets have shifted position._

_Do not engage, Tokas. Follow them._

_At once, Avatar Revani._

--

The portal opened into a city, an enclosed geo-front that operated at a giant dome under the ground, sealed off from the outside world. The children walked out of the blue dimensional gate to find themselves stuck in a brightly lit cavern.

"Whoa, is it night-time?"

"Nope, it's just the ceiling's made of rocks."

"Why doesn't it fall?"

Feni shrugged, and looked over the city. They'd arrived on a brace of cliffs overlooking the main business centre, great spires of black ceramics climbed under they reached the natural ceiling, acting as support pillars while walkways and monorails twisted around the cylinders themselves. Roughly three metres to their left ran a small automated walkway that stopped at the cliff edge, possibly to serve naturalists or rock-climbers.

No cars or vehicles could be seen, although the cacophony of lights flashed so often as to threaten epilepsy on anyone who dared look at the extravagant advertisements. The metropolis was alive, most definitely.

The children made their way along to the moving footpath, careful not to slip on the craggy surface and fall. Once everyone was on the boarding platform, they stepped on board and collapsed into a sitting position, letting the automated surface move them towards the steel-lined streets.

"Now what?" Sora sighed, asking the question on everybody's mind.

"We hook up with the HIST. Naba's been a part of their scheme for years, they'll see the merit in keeping him alive."

"See, they _are_ good guys! They want humans alive, don't they?"

"To an extent, they actually would rather have nothing to do with them, they're using the Humans as an excuse, like the council."

"So what's Naba doing with them?" Kairi spoke wearily, eyes drooping from mental fatigue. Sora slipped an arm around her, bracing her head against his shoulder as she started to nod off.

"He wants the other Sylvaen to stop killing humans, mostly."

_After all, the less humans they kill, the more for him…_

"Mostly?"

"Ehhhh… He's also doing it because he thinks it'll impress D'java."

"Who?"

"The chick who burned your asses."

"Oh. Why?"

"He's in love with her. Doubt it'll ever be returned, though. They're great friends, but I think she'll never see him that way."

"Why? He's a nice guy…ish." Namine cocked her head to the side.

"Exactly, he's a guy."

"Huh?" Chorused the children, confused.

"D'java's into chicks."

Silence dropped onto the scene for a good minute, before Riku spoke up.

"How do _you_ know?"

"Eh-heh-heh-heh…"

The children stared as Feni grew rather red in the face. Riku's brain started fitting two and two together, and came up with a rather startling confusion.

"Did you two…"

"Uh-huh."

"So that means you're a…"

"What? No! No, it was… how do I put this… spontaneous. She said 'Get naked' and… yeah. You do what D'java tells you." Feni had the decency to look away, the city lights now streaming over the faces of all concerned as the walkway turned .

"She sounds nasty." Roxas looked down.

"D'java? No, she's awesome. She's smart and nice and pretty… but she's the number one Avatar, and that means that she has certain responsibilities. Like answering directly to the council."

"What is it with the council and these Avatar things?" Sora groaned, "I don't get any of this."

"I'll tell you when we have time, but until now, just take it from me that you should never challenge any of them to a fight." Feni lay back as a couple of angels with their wings out passed by on the walkway above them.

"Noted."

The next few minutes passed in silence, the warm air blew steadily over the walkway walls and dried out the sweat from the alpine slopes on their brows. Feni forced them to get up at odd intervals to swap walkways, but otherwise the movement was minimal.

Finally, they began roving into a residential block, filled with Bubble-shaped houses dotting the landscape. Feni began watching them closely, until she looked at a billboard and noted a small manse situated on a hill to their left.

"Here's our stop."

The children groaned, shook each other awake, and stepped off at the next boarding platform, shambling towards the villa, passing through the gap in the wall (The lack of a gate didn't faze anybody in the least) and pulling themselves together at the doorstep.

As they knocked on the thick wood, Riku noted that Yuffie's eyes were already shut.

"Hey, Ninja girl, don't make me kiss you awake." He whispered.

"Fuck you."

The door opened, revealing a fairly muscled man with only his pants on, combined with a pair of dirty gardening gloves and a set of goggles, blinking quickly in the darkness outside his home.

"Oh, you're here earlier than I expected. My name is Lumaria, and I believe you are-"

Apart from Yuffie, Kairi and Feni, the others stood shocked. The face was different, thinner and more refined, and the body was definitely broader along the shoulders, but…

… The hair was still pink.

"Marluxia!"

* * *

_Any suggestions or questions about the plot will be answered to promptly. Thanks for reading, pig-slaves! Raus, raus, raus! Click the review button! Do it now!_

* * *


	19. Second Slumbering

_Ain't a complete lack of feedback great? I mean, apart from Evil Riggs and Apoc, I have absolutely no feedback on recent chapters. Or earlier chapters. And there's this phenomenon that I've discovered: I have stories that get easily eight or nine reviews a chapter three days after they're put up, and they update every week. Then there's this story, which gets two or three after a month at best, and it's lucky to get a new shot every two months. Spooky, no?  


* * *

_

"Give me one good reason why we shouldn't have a repeat of Castle Oblivion." Sora deadpanned, summoning the Ultima Key and holding it so the tip pointed less than five centimeters from the Former Nobody's face. The pink-haired Mastermind blinked, stared in polite surprise at the weapon spoke of the pointy, slashy possibilities hidden in its metallic flank.

He looked at Feni, who shrugged. He looked over at Roxas, who had yet to produce something equally sharp and went for nodding acknowledgement of an old acquaintance. His sighting of Riku caused a frown of 'Should I be remembering you? I think I should be.' To appear like lightning: was there for an instant, set something unfortunate on fire somewhere distant, then not.

His gaze took a definite 'Hmmm. Interesting.' Tone to it when it ran over Kairi (Sora's jerky grip on the Keyblade insured that it did not stay lower than the neck) and definite signs of remorse when he caught sight of the other blonde Nobody in the party. He ignored Yuffie outright, much to the Ninja's gruff annoyance.

"Well?"

The group felt the wind rustle at their backs, but there was no reason for it to raise the hairs on the back of their necks the way it was. The reaction could have had more to do with the faint, tiny sounds of thick fabrics shifting out in the dark grounds. The invisible notions of a dozen gloved hands grabbing the grip of things that were both high in metal content and suggestively heavy. Surprisingly heavy. Almost 'Heavy Weaponry' heavy.

Riku remembered what he could of the grounds as they went through. Most of the place was in darkness, softly lit by the moon and the distant city lights, but the swarms of garden sculpture could be hiding anything in their depths, almost as if something sinister was waiting to open fire…

The sound of a Gatling barrel spinning with a high keening noise eliminated the 'Almost'. There was an almost robotic coughing in the grounds, bizzarely more noticeable than the now-constant whirring.

The lights outside the mansion boomed with power, revealing a common filled with delicately (And almost impossibly) crafted topiaries, curving into bizarre shapes and signs and abstracted humanoids. A crushed gravel path circled the brightly illuminated lawn that seemed plastic in the artificial radiance.

One could say that the white-eyed, rubber-mask mouthed trenchcoat-wearing men were simply not noticeable in the splendor that was the garden of Lumaria.

One would, in that case, have to be very stupid not to discount the massive mini-guns that were slung from their waists like metal cylinders of swiss cheese. If one had more time to introspect on the visions, one could notice that the guns were at least as big as the figures that hefted them like wafer pancakes. One could think about medical impossibilities, mass-to-muscle limits, tendon strain, weight displacement and all sorts of interesting things.

One was, in this case, Sora. All he saw was a large number of very, very big guns aimed directly at his face from a direction of everywhere and a distance of ten metres up.

"Ah."

"Quite." Lumaria gave a tiny smile.

"Come on, Marly, weren't your assassin Nobodies good enough?" Roxas sighed, ignoring the churning and whirling from around them. Curious eyes located a Sniper rifle pointing at his forehead from a third storey window, with a pair of white eyes looking down the scope.

"Very astute. Perhaps we can ask your Samurai, little Pebble." Lumaria sighed, pulling off his gloves and throwing them over to a flax bag on the side. "Can we take this inside, please? My agents aren't used to deploying weapons outside of Panic Mode."

There was much shuffling as the children discussed the pros and cons of moving inside the large estate. A Keyblade was dispelled, guns were dismantled and placed back into giant holsters, dirty footprints were created from movement into the main foyer.

The double-door slammed. The children looked around at yet more flowers and ornamental shrubs, flanking a marble stairwell that branched off at each of the four floors, only obscured by hanging baskets that bloomed in purple.

There were more white eyes in the shrubs, trenchcoated men with their arms folded behind their backs.

"To think this was only uncultured scrub when I came here… only fifty years and I've made it… ah, well, it's all subjective." The pink-haired noble laughed, the echoes giving his voice a rich, vibrant luster.

"Marluxia… _how?_" Namine piped up, "You… and Saix… you're not supposed to be alive!"

"Hmmmm? Oh, that, yes, of course." The Nobody took to the stairs, cleaning them two at a time. "Come up! Come up, do!"

"Snubbed again, huh?" Roxas muttered, "Seriously, I can't see the differ…ence… Nami?"

Namine was shaking, taking hold of her Boyfriend's shoulder to support herself as the memories came back.

_How do we accelerate her growth?_

She felt the inner flesh of her arm, along a scar that was nearly unseen against her pale skin. Roxas placed his hand on her other shoulder to reassure her.

_She is a Nobody, but blood still flows, some kind of mental stimulant…_

"What… what, Namine?" Kairi took the other shoulder, the trembling increased to a point where she had to literally hold herself steady.

"Make… the needles… No…" She whimpered, "Make him go away, please…"

_Open her up. _

"You sick fuck." Roxas' voice was low, menacing. Something murderous in those words, some demon unleashed made the Gardener pause in his step, made him turn, made him cast his gaze again over the group.

_Inject… oh… 50cc's to start with._

"Nami, what did he do to you?"

"Don't make me remember. I don't want to… one year… one year…" Came the last few words before the girl folded up.

"Namine!" Kairi yelled, grabbing under her arms before she fell over, throwing a limb over her shoulder as Roxas took the other side. Agents standing in the shrubbery began to withdrawn pistols from inside their coats, laser pointers starting to shine on heads and necks.

_Ignore the screams. The distractions are not worth the risks._

"Ah. I have to say, I don't miss guilt one bit." Lumaria sighed as he made his way over to the girl. His eyes closed a little with concern, and he motioned a finger towards the collapsed young woman.

"Agents! Acquire Indisposed Target!" He ordered. One of the Trenchcoats moved forward jerkily from the shrubbery, smelling of something greasy and wiffing of hot rubber. Gloved hands shook and twitched as they withdrew from deep pockets.

"Not you, Agent Smith. Somebody with Grade Three arms and legs, if you please."

The Trenchcoat halted, moved back to its point. Another moved from the other side, far more smoothly than the other.

"Keep them away!" Roxas bellowed, the group moving away from his sharp springing into an aggressive stance, Oblivion bursting into life in his right hand.

"Desist." Lumaria sighed, the Agent backed away at his command.

Silence stretched on, Roxas' heavy panting pushing the tension with every breath. Sora moved a little closer to Kairi, helping to support Namine's weight. Yuffie stayed behind Riku, cautious in perspective as Feni grumbled to herself about 'Children and their blasted scenes'.

"Lumie, what's going on here? These brats know you?" The angel huffed.

"They knew what I was. I wiped out Sora's memories, and I used little Namine to do it." He gestured, "Roxas was one of my comrades."

"That so?" She blinked, "Coincidences just keep piling up, don't they?"

"But you were a nobody! You can't come back!" Roxas yelled, "I could only come back because, well…" He looked over to Namine, "Hearts are born, not made. I had the body, the mind… and the worlds knew I existed when I joined into Sora… and Namine. I didn't grow a Heart, I just woke up feeling things in Sora's bed one day."

"Kairi can relate." Riku smirked, earning a smack to the back of his head from a sniggering Yuffie.

"Riku, shut up." Roxas groaned, "No innuendo, this is serious."

"Nothing more serious than feelingurkackaggle." Riku gurgled at a well aimed elbow.

"And Dyme and Dolur and Alex and Nelera… they all… had each other. There was love there… they died and were buried together, they existed together… they came back together." Roxas finished, "You had nobody."

Lumaria's fists clenched, the sound of weapons moving from holsters began to shuffle in the still air. "I had A'si. I had always had A'si, I loved him like nothing you could believe, I came back to see him one last time. And your… your fucking precious Avatar, he tortured him to death and destroyed me when I came to bring him home. When he came back from the Nothingness, he was beheaded _with the sword I gave him on our bonding night._"

He pointed at Roxas, eyes blazing with something stronger than rage and more vitriolic than hate. "You should be grateful, my past underling, that I am willing to support this mission. Because the role that man plays is greater than my beloved, greater than me, greater than any of us."

"Coming from the biggest Narcissist in all the worlds, I find that hard to believe." Roxas growled, supporting Namine with one hand and pointing his Keyblade in the exact way Sora had not twenty seconds before. Marluxia's rage quickly vanished, as if it was something he had been through so many times before, and could now control.

"In his hands, he holds the influencing of D'java, the High Avatar, who has seen fit to remain impartial to our plight against senseless war. He is the weakest of all Avatars, and yet he wields a decision that can doom the universe."

He shuddered, and closed his eyes. "He can convince her, he is the only one that she will listen to, our conduit, our savior."

"You have a lot to answer for." The Nobody groaned as Namine's weight began to turn his shoulder. How did somebody so small weigh so much?

"Marluxia does. I've already answered."

"You did-"

"I KNOW WHAT HE DID!!" Lumaria screamed, "I KNOW WHAT HE DID, AND THE FUCK COULDN'T KNOW HOW IT FEELS!!"

Yuffie shook at the rage, blinking as the Sylvaen began to rage and spit in fury.

"I CAN FEEL HIM!! HE MAKES ME WANT TO EXPERIMENT!! I CAN STILL SMELL THE FUCKING BLOOD!!"

He heaved a great breath, visibly relaxed once more, and wiped the spittle from his mouth. He closed his eyes and opened them, sorrow clear in his expression.

"Please, Sora, Namine, Roxas; don't judge me for what he did. He made the experiments, he had the knowledge…"

He gave a dejected sigh, "… but he left me with the guilt."

The group slowly pulled together, not trusting him. Feni walked towards him, holding out her hand. A glare made her quickly place it back at her side, fuming.

"What stage was your bonding?" Feni questioned, referring to the Sylvaen equivalent of marriage.

"Seventh. We had just made Seventh. We were perfect, you should have seen his passion, his silent power…"

"Whoa…" She breathed out. Seventh was the final stage, the final admonition of true destined love, the original of the term 'Seventh Heaven' itself. Behind her, Riku popped an ether over Namine's head to ease the mental fatigue, reviving the stricken girl.

Feni snuck back nodding as Namine assured everyone that she was fine. Riku clicked his hands and grunted, aiming a meaningful glance at his guide.

"Well?"

Feni turned to Lumaria. "We had to take a detour, our little route got-"

"Our little Hive has already informed me of her… steps." Came the quiet reply. He cocked his head for his own query, "You have taken a dangerous shortcut, little outcast. You know what this means for the next stage of your travels."

"I do." Came the calm reply, though a guilty conscious made her fingers twitch. Lumaria noted the movement and gave a knowing nod, "What can you provide, Lord?"

"Whatever you desire."

"Provisions, less outstanding clothing, rest. That'll do for starters. Information, weapons, recon equipment and an escort would be the best we need."

"Ask my agents for information. I was just about to turn in myself, but feel free to request anything in the morning." He yawned, possibly for effect.

"Route to T'en still open?"

"Open as it will ever be."

"And… the Agents?" A thumb was jerked towards the shifting trenchcoats.

"They belong to the technophile."

"What, even the eyes?"

"Everything but the brains."

"Tao modified them?" The female Sylvaen blinked.

"Stage three neural enhancers." Lumaria began walking up the stairs to a door at their peak, clearing leaving for bed.

"Holy shit. No expense spared, huh?"

"None. Goodnight. Agents! Guide and disperse!"

The man walked up the stairs, all energy spent. One of the agents walked up to the second floor and motioned for the group to follow. They hesitantly made their way upwards and maneuvered along plainly furnished corridors until they were placed within a wide meeting room adorned with long chairs and floor cushions. Two doors opened to show a series of bunks within, while the other opened up into a large kitchen and larder, everything made out of a smooth grey marble.

Feni moved to the Agent who had been standing by the exit since they had walked in, which pulled a PDA and linked it with a cable to a node in its head. The device hummed for a minute as Feni input commands and query-sums through an infra red keyboard that was projected holographically.

"Girls sleep in the bedroom to the far right, guys in the bunks to the second on the left. Bathrooms are connected to the back of each room, don't move out of this room in the night or the Agents here will assume you're to be shot until they can't identify you as human." She read off the electronic display. The others slunk to their assorted sleeping quarters, too tired to make much of a complaint, muttering about nothing in particular.

Feni watched them leave, and punched the Agent in the side.

"Immortality, huh? Stupid Hae'l."

--

"Urrrrrrrrrgh."

"Riveting as always."

"Shut up, Riku."

The three boys found themselves clad only in boxers (Riku's earlier prediction proved correct, after all.) and attempting to sleep in their room. Their bathroom had, surprisingly, contained menial items such as toothbrushes, toilets and showers. Nobody questioned the presence of a second door behind the shower, the night was too well entrenched for stupid exploration.

Roxas scratched his inner thigh, still steaming from the warm water and smelling of lavender soap, waiting for the thick blankets to warm up as he tried to find a good position on the pillow. Sora was already back to his goofy self, drooling semi-awake onto his pillow as Riku lay under his bunk, hands tucked behind his head and thinking hard.

"Think we can trust him?" Roxas ventured.

"Who, Lumaria?" Sora mumbled, "Don't see why not, lady took us here herself…"

"But… Namine…" His other stumbled over the words; he tried not to let his voice break with emotion. How could he tell them how close he came to losing himself in the blonde girl's torture? She hadn't told him about it, but now whenever he thought about her, he imagined her suffering through something disgusting, something depraved…

_Why didn't she tell me? What happened to you, Nami?_

"I can't forgive Marluxia for that." Sora acknowledged, "But he isn't Lumaria, and you aren't me. We're different people, doing different things, that's the way things work."

"Get that off a fortune cookie?" Roxas shot back with a smile, to be answered with a snort and a turn of the head. Eventually, there was a gagging cough and his other's face appeared again, nose scrunched and tongue out.

"What's that smell?!"

"Hmmm? Oh, whoops." Riku shrugged from beneath the bunk, "Forgot to go in after Roxas."

"Ew. Get in the shower, man!"

--

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, please. Just… just let it be."

"You know Roxas is going to be worried now, right?"

"I know. I'll think of something."

The girl's bunks had Namine and Kairi in the top bunks, Feni and Yuffie underneath. The girl's shower had two stalls, so the longer time it took them to wash did not matter so much, leaving them ended up in bed at the same time as the boys. Kairi and Namine were currently discussing her mental breakdown, while Yuffie mused about the cyborgic Agents that had been encountered in the foyer and grounds.

"You know, I think it's cute how you and Roxas dance around each other like you're afraid of cooties. You'd be the cutest couple ever!" Kairi squeaked, trying to lose her worries and recent experiences in trivial matters. Simple matters. _Normal Matters_.

"Says the redhead that kicks her hero in the head every time he tries to get intimate." Came the snarky reply, earning a flying pillow to the mouth.

"I just don't want him to get the wrong idea, that's all!"

"What, that he's allowed to touch you?"

"Yes! No! I don't know!" Kairi sighed, "I'm trying to mix hard-to-get with Chase-me-pin-me-lose-control… I don't know if it's working…"

"I think it is, I think you're lucky he's always trying to chase you. Just don't-"

"-Drag it on so long that he loses interest? Yeah, don't worry about it. Do you think he knows my favorite colour?"

Yuffie groaned from below, "Would you two _listen_ to yourselves? You sound like Valley girls, not Princesses of Heart!"

"It's fine, Hive went through the same stage. Although admittedly all she ever talked about were machine tools." Came Feni's grumpy commentary, buried in a pillow.

"I know, but still!" Yuffie whined, "_Oh, Sora, come take my panties off but don't because I want you to but I don't want you to think that I want you to_… Pfft!" Yuffie summed up her opinion of teen relationships with a raspberry. Namine pulled Kairi's pillow from her face and hurled it at the sarcastic ninja, earning an 'Mmph' of exasperation.

"What about you and Riku, huh? You've been playing head games with Silvermop since you came on the island." Kairi pointed out, earning an angry kick to the underside of her mattress as Namine giggled on.

"I'm just bored, and he's easy to tease."

"Reeeeeally?"

"Ya huh."

"Nah uh!"

"Ya uh!!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Can we please shut up and go to sleep?" Came an ignored whimper from a tired Feni.

"I'm not the one who went bright red when the Ship Captain hooked up with him in front of everybody."

"Ah-… I… I wasn't red!"

"Just like you weren't red when that lady started hitting on him at the mess hall?"

"Yes! Wait, what?"

--

_We will fight the heathens! We will fight the heathens!_

Riku grimaced as the suds got into his mouth, spitting and gagging a little at the oily taste. Hot water coursed and diverted as he washed over his body with a sponge, wiping away the grime and sweat from the rough day.

_We will fight the Heathens! We will fight the heathens!_

He had tried looking for something to turn off the damned shower radio, but there seemed to be no kind of off switch or anything that resembled a button. The music seemed to be just as mad as the residents…

_What of the riches of the land? The powers of Bright Darkness?_

"Agg, ere gid dib." He mumbled through the bubbles, finding a small lever near the corner of the open booth. Steam filled the room, but the sounds of War and electric guitar did not any longer.

Silently working his skin with the soap, he tried to let himself unwind a little.

_Wait a minute…_

But there was something strange, something about everything that didn't seem right…

_Lumaria mentioned a plan, and Hive already knew we were coming… and she was there when we retreated from the Nobodies…_

Coincidences piled up in his head. Saix's revival, the quick capture, the fact that they seemed to be stumbling over every single 'obstacle' that proved to be suspiciously well orchestrated.

_Five days… does it have to be exactly five days? At this rate, it WILL take five… days…_

What was meant to happen? Why was Naba's sister told of the time when he would be executed? That strange, unintelligible script in the container could have had anything written on it.

_Wait a minute…_

Had Riku had five more seconds to think he through, he would have discovered something that would put his perspective of Naba's capture and the Nobody attack into a completely different angle. Unfortunately, the other door to the bathroom opened and disturbed his thought process.

"Ravi? That you?" Came an unmistakably female voice, young and plaintive. The sound of footsteps on the wet sponge floor seemed especially loud to his ears, although the screams of _Oh COME ON!!_ From his hysterical brain almost drowned it out.

"Giving me the silent treatment, huh? Can't blame you…" The woman sighed, moving beside a frozen Riku to grab a slither of soap and working up a lather. Riku tilted his head to look at her face.

_Well, that explains a lot._

The woman was probably blind, seeing that she was lacking both pupil and iris in either of her eyes. His modest nature warred with his hormones to look further down the body of the naked Sylvaen, but regrettably her folded wings covered any mature-orientated zones, the tiny feathers soaking and dripping as she turned on the showerhead next to his.

"Look, Ravi, I'm sorry I beat you in the Rankings, okay? But you know you'll always be a better crafter, and you know I keep telling you that you should go into the guild. It's not because I want to hog the glory, but I just don't think your talents are reaching their potential in making Tech arms!" The Angel ranted, washing herself underneath the veil of her wings. Riku felt his pulse jump in his throat when her arm slipped out to wrap around his waist.

"I just want you to be happy, okay? That's what friends like us do… and this is how we say sorry…" Her voice turned husky at the end, a wicked smile on her face shone as her hand dipped lower to stroke through the stubble of Riku's pubic hairs. With a yelp, the young Keyblader smacked the hand away, feeling his body respond despite himself.

The feeling passed quickly as the madness of the situation caught up with him.

_Why does this keep happening to me?!_

"Wow, Ravi, you sound a little off today, you have a cold?" The blind angel giggled, "Or are you just being shy? Don't worry, I won't bite this time!"

"I-I-I-I-I…" Riku stuttered, "I think you have the wrong shower!"

The angel paused in her advances, "Huh? You're not Ravi? Where am I, then?"

"Some k-kind of guest shower, for the men!"

"Guest shower? We have guests?"

But Riku had already bolted for the door.

--

"Jumping Jehosephat Fuck!"

"Aaaaah! Riku, what the hell! You nearly Turkey-slapped me!"

The boys waited while Riku slipped on the boxers that he had grabbed from the shower in his hasty exodus. He then proceeded to give a summarized version of the events so far as he hyperventilated.

"Shower… naked lady… blind… thought I… someone else… tried… give… handjob…" Riku wheezed.

Roxas and Sora exchanged a look. Sora decided to voice their thoughts.

"So… a naked blind girl comes in, thinks you're somebody else, tries to give you a handjob-"

"-No questions asked-" Roxas cut in.

"-No questions asked, and the first thing that comes into your mind is for you to run away? What the fuck, man? That's like every man's dream is to have a case of mistaken identity with a hot, horny girl!" Sora complained.

"Shut the fuck up, Virgin." Riku sneered, not in the mood for judgement as he slipped under the sheets.

"You're a virgin too!"

"Everyone in this damn room is a virgin! Get over it!"

Silence fell for a minute, until Roxas asked a rather strange question.

"How many of the girls are virgins, do you think?"

"Well, Feni's not. Neither's Lulu or Quistis… maybe Selphie… pretty sure Kairi and Namine and Yuffie are…" Sora mumbled, trying not to think of a certain redhead in bed with another man.

"Guys, this is pathetic. Shut up." Riku groaned.

"Yuffie? I dunno… something about her…"

"She's a virgin." Riku said simply. _I can't believe I was the first person she tried to seduce. Should I be honoured?_

"Check yourself?" Roxas laughed.

"Fuck you. She's scrawny, loud, bratty and she has an ego the size of Hollow Bastion. Definitely would not hit it." He reminded them. _There, that'll shut them up._

"I'm sorry, who are we talking about? Because I'm pretty sure you just described Sora's female self."

"What?"

"It's true! She's like you, but with boobs!"

"She doesn't have boobs." Sora pointed out.

"A-fucking-men." Riku concurred.

"Whatever. Goodnight."

"G'night."

"Hnn."

--

_**They're staying at the Assassin's manse. How long until reinforcements arrive?**_

_We will be ready to attack at dawn, Tokas._

_**I understand. I'm uploading video feed of the escape routes and sniper posts… now.**_

* * *

_Well, I have a new poll up. Oh, and what happened to the fifty odd people who've favorited this thing? Anyway, don't hold yur breath, buys and girls. I'm tired of this one. More reviews = Faster update, but I doubt you people have got the picture by now._

_Riggs, Apoc: Cheers. You guys give me good sendback, and I'm grateful.  
_


	20. Seperation

_A little shorter, this one, but I'm going to have to do that because... well... you'll see eventually. Happy New Year!

* * *

_

In the mansion of the Assassin, six bodies turned in their slumbers, only thirty minutes after they had entered exhausted into its cavernous halls. In one room, a redhead dreamed uneasily, a sense of tiny forebodings pricking the edges of her still-waking mind.

The first hours of sleep had brought Kairi into the strange areas of the unconscious known only as the shallow slumber, the time when the foremind and backmind came together to throw images into her brain. She twitched under the bedsheets, her eyes rapidly shifting left to right as she began to enter REM territory. The image began to grow in her head, a filling of her senses as the vision grew clear.

_She was there, standing on the beach at the Destiny Islands, on the paradisiacal island where the paopu grew and the sands flowed like quicksilver through her fingers. Sora and Riku were there, presences not seen, only felt through the other senses. The Brunette's carefree laughter mixing with the sarcastic tones of the older male, the cinnamon scent of Riku's shampoo and the brief tang of Sora's deodorant._

_There were tiny pulses through the ground as they ran towards her, she could not see them, facing out to sea. They ran past her, getting their feet wet under the foam and salty brine that lapped over their toes. _

In her dream, Kairi's legs gave a feeble twitch as her conscious registered the stinging itch that seawater always left on her legs.

_There were other voices in the background, Selphie and Wakka and Tidus, all with their own pattern, their own rhythm that identified them against the purple rock and rising palms. The others never came to this place; Ashe's father disliked the idea of her adventuring there in a rickety canoe by herself, whereas Penelo disliked the idea of going without Vaan, who was afraid of water. Lulu's dress sense made it nearly impossible to go there without ruining some item of clothing, and Quistis was forever studying at the Academy. They could be in other places, but not here; here was a special place._

_It was the six of them, then, now and forever._

_Six was a good number. _

A loud combined snore from Yuffie and Feni broke the flow of the dream, but Kairi eventually settled back into the hazy recollection.

_The air was heavy from the humidity, moreso than the usual moistness that came from the ocean's vapor, a sucking sensation that predicted the mother of all storms. As was normal for that situation, the horizon was clear, but they all knew to set home as quickly as possible when the clouds appeared. In the island's climate, hurricanes and other airbourne torrents came over deceptively fast, and the chances of a tiny boat surviving in that? Laughable. The only alternative would be to stay in the caves, and with hurricanes that lasted over six days a clear reality with no supplies, the best option was just to run like fuck. There were memories from her childhood, when the stars were falling and the world seemed to end, she would look out from the manor where her adoptive father kept her and want to go…_

_To home. Home was safe, it was warm, it was where Sora and his friends were._

_Home was where Sora was._

_Sora…_

The sound of hurried footsteps from the corridor came into the room, soft from two layers of sound shielding through the main cloister, the gentle thumps that shook the house did not faze the occupants one bit as they continued to sleep. There was a movement in the walls, felt as a tiny itch on the forehead that nobody noticed, the shadows lengthening around the room to converge on the ceiling, directly over Kairi's head.

_Riku vanished from the dream, turning into a mist that held his form and then blew away with the salty breeze. The sounds of the background dimmed, soon all that she could see was a brown mess of spikes, one arm raised to it's forehead to scan the open sea for any sign of white or black. A few sure-footed steps, and they were beside each other, his face still locked in easy concentration as he scouted the horizon._

'_It looks like we still have half an hour, tops!' His cheerful voice exclaimed, punctuated with a smile. He looked over at her, cast his blue eyes into hers and grinned goofily again, 'How about it? Let's have a bet; if clouds appear after Twelve-twenty, I owe you tomorrow's homework. If they appear before then, you owe me tomorrow's lunch, full meal. Deal?'_

_Kairi knew he was teasing, but she was already skint from purchasing her stationery for the new term. Her own smile appeared, ready to begin the banter._

'_That's stupid, the birds have already gone in, those clouds'll be here any second." Kairi huffed, tapping him on the back of his head with her palm. 'You were going to try and cheat me out of my lunch money, weren't you?'_

'_Heh, maybe.' Came the abashed reply, followed by his trademark crossed arms behind his head. 'But you could always, I dunno, make lunch?'_

'_Sora, I could burn down the house boiling the kettle, you don't want me cooking, honestly.'_

'_That's going to make things difficult.' Sora pouted, a tiny frown creasing his features._

_Kairi turned to look out over the waves, a cursory glimpse to check for the aforementioned clouds. 'Difficult?' She repeated to herself._

Muffled shouts filtered through the doors, followed by a series of distant pops that came from the direction of the windows. In her bed, Namine snorted and turned on to her front, drooling over her pillow.

'_Well, yeah… Valentines Day is coming up, and that's what couples do, right? One of them cooks, and the other spends all the time they have proving that they didn't waste their effort. ImeanIcan'tcookandifyoucan'tthenwe'lljusthavetoorderoutand-' Sora babbled on, only to be cut off by Kairi's hand._

_She knew she should be feeling something, looking into his large, bemused eyes and nervous expression. For some reason, she couldn't quite grab the need to deny that they were a couple, or exclaim shock that he had technically asked her for Valentine-ship. It just seemed like a redundant effort either way, they both knew this was coming, and they both knew neither of them wanted to be with anybody else. So he was taking the next step in their relationship, and an official one at that, not a sly kiss to the back of the neck explained away by a simple 'I tripped' or a lingering touch at the side of her waist._

_And so, both dream Kairi and the sleeping version --that made little mutters every time the house shook a little-- wondered, just what was holding them back? Pride? Fear? Exploring the unknown? The desire to hold back under their hormones had calmed to the point where unfortunate choices were made?_

'-the Children! Acquire the-!' Sounded a whisper-loud voice from outside the compound, and still the occupants snored and smacked their lips and kicked underneath the spreads. The shadows seemed to drop, almost creating a screw into the sleeping girl's head, the air tasting of grease and dust as a presence seemed to sift into the very fabric in that room.

_She felt her hand reach away from his mouth, to cup the side of his face, felt the warmth, felt the pressure as he leaned into it and covered it with his own. 'Sora…' She breathed, unsure of how to continue, '… I'd love to be yours, but I don't know why I-'_

_**NO. YOU DO NOT.**_

_A voice; feminine, alien and somehow possessing of every emotion and none at the same time came from Sora's mouth. As the echoes from the booming cry bounced around the island, his skin twisted and stretched, his iris' colouring into a shade that somehow… had no resemblance to colour at all. It was not black; it was simply an absence of any pigment. Kairi jerked her hand away, the sudden movement unbalancing her and tripping her to land on her rear into the damp sand. A series of faces flashed before her; her father, Riku, Namine, her friends, people she had met before. They flashed so fast that a pattern began to emerge, a face with no pupils or hair, with a pointed chin and a feminine nose…_

_Sora's form continued to warp, the scenery around them faded slightly, losing details and focus as the figure in the dream gained greater clarity, more attention to specific things, the supple flesh of the ear, the tiny bulges along the length of its throat. The creature was no longer recognizable as Sora, but was turning before Kairi's horrified eyes into a lithe, graceful woman with refined features and a serious expression._

'_Wha… what are-'_

_**I AM THE GIFT, THE FIRST AND THE LAST, THE PRIMAL AND THE FINAL.**__ The figure spoke, its lips never moving, the sounds coming from the increasingly bizarre landscape. __**I HAVE NOT ONCE BEEN INTO THE MIND OF A BEING THAT WAS NOT SPIRIT NOR SPIRIT-VESSEL-**__ The voice intoned, sounding of a soprano mixed with a lilting bass run through a buzzsaw. __**–THEREFORE, BEAR ME NO ILL WILL IF MY PRESENCE PLACES FEAR IN YOU.**_

'_I… what is this? You're not making any sense…' Kairi mumbled, still watching in shock as the creature grew in size, tripling her own height until it stood in the waves, glowing eyes of nothing pointed directly at the young woman, its own body naked and proud against the afternoon sun._

_**THINK OF THIS AS YOUR VISION, LITTLE HUMAN. THERE IS A TIME OF STRIFE AHEAD OF MY PEOPLE, AND YOUR PLACE IN IT, WHILE SMALL, IS INSTRUMENTAL.**__ The being sighed, shaking its head. __**I WOULD RATHER HAVE PLACED MORE FAITH IN YOUR ABILITIES AS A WARRIOR, BUT THERE ARE TOO MANY FUTURES, TOO MANY DIFFICULTIES. YOU ARE BEING PULLED ALONG BY SO MANY DIFFERENT FACTIONS, SO MANY DIFFERENT CAUSES… I AM AFRAID THAT MATTERS ARE SO DIRE THAT I MUST INTERVENE DIRECTLY.**_

'_But why me? I am… You want Sora, he's the Keyblade master!' Kairi felt a little shame at that, not matching up to her best friend with the blade, but truth be told, it was more that she felt he would have a better idea of how to deal with this… thing._

_**HE IS NOTHING MORE THAN A PUPPET. A WELL-MEANING PUPPET WITH NOBLE INTENTION AND A SENSE OF JUSTICE, BUT A PUPPET NONETHELESS.**__ The being replied smugly, __**YOU, ON THE OTHER HAND, ARE THE ONE HE WILL ANSWER TO ABOVE ALL THINGS. YOU HOLD HIS HEART, AND AS SUCH, YOU MAY GUIDE HIM THROUGH MY WORLDS.**_

'_So what do you want me to do?' The Princes of Heart felt that it was useless to ask, but if there was an explanation, perhaps there was a way to discover just what the giant woman was talking about._

_A little inwardly, she wished that it would put some clothes on. Breasts the size of Basketballs mocked her from two metres up, and the angle of where she had to look in order to maintain eye contact was infuriatingly… obstructed._

_**I MUST FIRST EXPLAIN, YOU WERE DECEIVED FROM THE START. FOR WHAT PURPOSE, EVEN I DO NOT KNOW; AVATARS THAT SEPARATE FROM THE ASTRAL BOND ARE NOTORIOUSLY DIFFICULT TO INTERPRET IN DESIGN. THIS IS THE CULMINATION OF A DECADE-LONG PLAN, OF WHICH THE DETAILS ARE BEGINNING TO COME TO LIGHT.**_

_**YOU MUST JOIN WITH THE AVATAR PHOEN, WHO TRAVELS THE PATH OF E'EON, AND KNOWS WHAT YOU MUST DO IN ORDER TO SAVE YOURSELVES AND PROVIDE JUSTICE AGAIN TO THE SYLVAEN. TO STOP THE SENSELESS WAR, THE WAR THAT NABA REVERS SO.**_

_Wincing at the volume of the booming voice, Kairi blinked as the sky darkened behind the woman, whose eyes narrowed as she spread her arms. Behind her, the stormclouds rose up, roaring towards the figure on the beach. A sudden ruse of pressure caused Kairi to lurch forward, watching in fear as a massive wave formed on the once-still sea, rearing to crash onto the tiny island._

_**THE AVATAR, NABA, IS A WRONGDOER, A MURDERER, A TRAITOR TO OUR CAUSE. **__The voice seemed to lose control for a minute, the pitch rising uncomfortably high before her throat was cleared. __**YOU **_**FOLLOW**_** HIM UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT HE SACRIFICED HIMSELF FOR YOU, BUT NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. IN TRUTH, HE IS WAITING FOR YOU TO TAKE THE SECRETS OF THE KEYBLADE FROM YOU, AND GAIN FURTHER POWER TO DISRUPT THE ORDER OF THINGS. **_

'_He had his tongue cut out just for that? Why should I believe you? You're nothing but a dream.' Kairi wondered aloud, remembering Feni's distraught expression. If he had truly intended that they follow him, then why had she been so reluctant to let them go?_

_**NABA IS A HERETIC!! HE WILL SINK TO ANY DEPTH IN ORDER TO GAIN D'JAVA'S APPROVAL!! HE IS-!!**_

Whatever the figure thought Naba was, Kairi never got to hear, because her dream was interrupted by the floor. Or, to be more accurate, her dream was interrupted by the massive shockwave that crashed through the manor, shaking her out of head and tipping her out onto the hard wood.

--

"And so the curtain rises, and what audience could foretell an act like this?" Lumaria mused as muzzle-flashes sparked light through the windows of his bedroom. A spent round smacked into the tempered glass, held fast by the reinforced alloy and still smoking as the former Assassin yawned. He looked over at the green holographic readout on the opposite side of his bed, noting the general status of the skirmish.

"Phoen, dear, dear Phoen Revaka… you were always reputed to be quite reckless, how you disappoint me." The angel sighed, folding his rose-tinted wings to the side in order to better angle his back, "You should know by now that we have no intention of letting the Hae'l leave."

He winced as a explosion came along with the shattering of glass. "Tsk, so long as she doesn't destroy the greenhouse."

Another shudder ran through the house, and a faint psychic scream could be heard cursing about a lost connection.

"And imitating E'eon herself, hmm? My my, that's hubris on a grand scale, little Avatar. But truly, it seems that before the day is out, the children will see all twelve Avatars and the High one herself. I wonder if they feel honoured…"

--

"Sora! Riku! Everyone, we need to get out of here!" Kairi cried out, bursting into the boy's bedroom. The rest of them were already getting dressed, Roxas struggling into his robes as Sora wrestled with an uncooperative pair of soft shoes. As the house continued to shake, Namine pushed through the door with all the mundane supplies she could carry, snatched in a hurry from the kitchen. Bottles of water, crafted from a thin substance not entirely unlike baked clay fell from her arms, rolling around the rapidly filling room.

"What is it _this_ time?!" Sora snapped, the lack of sleep not nearly compensated by the adrenaline, evidenced by his earnest attempts to put gloves on his feet.

"Something's shaking the house, idiot! It's too irregular to be an earthquake, and no wind sounds like _that._" Yuffie thumbed at the door after she closed it, a series of gurgling screams and gunfire conveniently filtering through to illustrate her point. As the children prepared, popping ethers to rejuvenate their mental facilities and stretching out in case of a break-in (The bunks had been moved to blockade the door with a lack of grunting and groaning), there came several drops in pressure, the air turning coarse and thin. At one point, Riku began grabbing his throat as the atmosphere turned nigh-empty of its essence, before a feeling of increased circulation restored the vitality, like withdrawing his head from a blanket.

"What's up with the air… can't breathe…" Roxas gasped, holding Namine steady, his frailer counterpart coping poorly with the drop in living condition.

"Probably… trying to smoke us out, don't ask me how…" Riku said slowly, wishing for a window to open. That wish was quickly wiped out as Sora cast around for their Sylvaen guide, who most likely knew just what the problem was in this strange, unclear world.

"Feni, any idea what… where is she?"

--

"I thought you said we were in the clear!!" The Sylvaen screamed, following Hive down the manse's extensive corridors. Flames could be seen at the far end, licking at the carpets and turning the walls to ash. A grunt from the curly-haired vessel saw a door leading to the stairwell on the right blown off its hinges, followed by a winded Avatar and a frustrated sister. The guide grumbled to herself as they avoided the assault patrols, notified by Hive's elusive spirit-warden.

_Figures that this would happen when I'm up thinkin' the next move. 'We can plan in the lounge', says I. 'No', says she, 'The kids might walk in'…_

"How was I supposed to know, Auntie?! The council shouldn't know about this place!" Hive called back, taking the stairs three at a time as they navigated the massive household.

"This is why you blew up the planet in the first place! _So that nobody knew how to follow us!!_"

"Nobody did! And thanks to that little waste of effort, my conduit is drained, no more casting, and sure as hell no more Pure Avatar of the Force clan!"

"You think I don't know that!? Only six years, Hive!"

"Well, I've got twelve worth of recharging to do now, so thanks a fucking bunch for waiting!"

--

"Well, there's only one thing left to do." Sora coughed, his nose irritated by tiny wisps of smoke.

"Does it involve going outside towards the big guns of Dakka-dakka? Or are we to assume that they're just going to stop shooting each other and put out a picnic spread?" Kairi shot, her weak sarcasm covering her climbing panic as she watched Roxas and Namine search for air pockets under the beds.

"With the custard and jelly-tarts and Chi drinks and that chocolatey stuff called Lai?" Sora mumbled to himself, helping Riku to move the bed while Yuffie and Kairi held their weapons at the door. A final push, and the bed scrunched over the wood into the corner, freeing the door.

"The Lai is a cake. Everybody knows that."

"Well, aren't we Glad today?"

"Glad? Us?"

"Enough." Riku ordered, bracing himself to open the door, Keyblade at the ready. "Get ready, everyone, we're rushing out."

"Shouldn't we wait for help?" Namine asked, letting go of Roxas to ready another Reflectga, her arms buzzing with discharged energy that sparked into the smoke particles in the air.

"I'd rather be outside dodging bullets than inside doing a Camel Joe imitation." Yuffie summed up the options in her own way, nodding at the Silver-haired youth, "Go."

--

"Say, Auntie?"

"Yeah?"

"Do we have any weapons that can suck out air?" Hive choked out, holding a concentration spellweave in front of her mouth, the circular magicka-programme drawing in what little air remained after the latest pressure drop.

"Pfft, nah. Only thing close enough is when you've got some powerful Magicka weave pulling in Oxygen and combusting it. 'Tis the fireball matrix, kid." Feni grunted, holding a piece of Scuba equipment in one arm and alternating her breaths with her replies.

Hive and Feni had stopped at the base of the stairs, hiding around the doorway as a squad of armoured Sylvaen barreled past it, not bearing friendly colours. A minute afterwards, a squark of Cyborg chatter mixed with the sudden spinning roar of minigun fire, predating the screams by a few milliseconds.

"So… Oxygen's a gas, right?" Hive continued in a hushed tone.

"You've been working with gas torches for years and you ask me this now?" Came the usual exasperation to Hive's obliviousness.

"Aaaand the only Sylvaen who can extract that much from the atmosphere in such a wide range is, well, the Gas Avatar, right?"

"Yup."

"And she mixes it with pure hydrogen to make it combust, right?"

"Indeedy."

"To make big fireballs and set everything on fire, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"And she's pretty loyal to the council, and more than willing to blow up anything that might house resistance to freeing Dad, right?"

"Got it in one."

"Like this estate, for instance?"

There was a pause as Pregnant as an overdue mother whale while Feni overlooked the scorch marks on the opposite wall and remembered the burning corridors.

"An Avatar, Auntie."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

"And I can't go toe-to-toe with her, I'm drained."

"Can't expect her to let us leave, either."

They looked at each other, and another pause came to life.

"Fuck."

Well, maybe not.

--

"I think we're going to be okay!" Sora coughed out as they made their way towards the entrance hall, Riku and Yuffie tagging behind after a massive growl boomed from somewhere further in the house. Everyone slowed to a halt as the house shook again from the heavy footfall of something huge within the halls. The pounding changed to a rumbling as another set of thumps joined the first, growing louder and louder until the group started running forwards again, not willing to encounter the owner of such large feet.

"I think we made a wrong turn!" Namine cried, with Riku voicing agreement from his rearguard position. They stopped as they reached a six-exit room, untouched by fire and possessing clean air.

"Well, here's a choice of six to make up for it." Riku wheezed, holding on to the wall for support, clearing his lungs of smoke and bracing Sora with a slap on the back. "I don't think we can stay here, whatever's making the earthquakes probably isn't in mind to shower us with hugs and kisses."

"We can't get out without Feni!" Kairi reminded him. Riku shrugged and was shoved out of the way by a wide-eyed Sora, gripping his Keyblade tightly.

"We can get out, that's a start, just keep hacking threw the walls until we hit the outside!" He cried, ignoring the replies in the negative and picking a wall at random. A quick flurry of swings to gather up magical charge, and Sora's guard break punched through the masonry to reveal a kitchen outdone in heavy wood sparring.

"Sora, you idiot! You can't just… wait for me!" Kairi groaned, motioning the others to stay back from the wall, leaping into the warm room to stop the boy from smashing in the other side.

"This is no time to be panici- AAAAH!!"

And then, disaster struck. Perhaps it was the shock from the impact of Sora's weapon, perhaps the floor, damaged by the cinders and warped by the fire underneath it. The large support beam overhead, only hanging on by a thread thanks to an unlucky series of piercing round, was definitely a factor. Shaken off by the thumping and Sora's attack, it fell down, crashing through the floor, bringing the rest of the Kitchen falling with it.

Along with Sora and Kairi, who disappeared into the smoke and darkness with only an 'oh' of surprise, before the ceiling followed them down.

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_Righto! Now, there's a poll up on my profile, check it out. And remember to click the link at the bottom of my profile, it's a great spoof of popular animes and pretty damn fun in the bargain. Oh, and review too, that would be sweet. Feel free to question me!_


	21. Exodus, Peace, Capture

_Can anybody say 10,000 word chapter? I think I can. Enjoy, my gift to you._

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There were a series of hacking coughs, groans and irritated shouting as Sora and Kairi pushed the grainy ceiling plaster off their heads and bodies, blinking and rubbing their eyes when the dust bypassed their eyelids. Kairi heaved, rolling her chest with a round of wheezy coughing as her lungs attempted to clear the contaminant from her system. Once she and Sora had ceased to make noise they looked at each other, reached the same train of thought, and looked up.

Beams of heavy wood and sheets of black metal hung suspended over a jagged hole in the ceiling, a few slipping as the teens watched and dislodging more dust, forcing them to cover their eyes and look back to the ground.

Glaring from under her lashes at Sora; Kairi moved her hands and summoned the Oathkeerper, her mind working the mental preparations for a half-strength Reflega. The boy's expression was a little shaken, and her expression softened as he hacked pitifully and stared at his shaking hands. Finding it in her heart to forgive the impulsive boy once again (The infamous arm-over incident a few months ago was, at least then, the time she vowed to never do so again), she coughed meaningfully into her hand and reached for an ether deep in her robe sleeve and tossed it at him. With a tinkling sound, the container broke and washed around his skin, refreshing his stamina and cleansing his head of toxins.

"S… Sorry, Kai. I just, you know, I thought there was a way out if…" Sora stuttered, eyes flicking up to meet hers and then down again, ashamed.

Kairi sighed, shaking her head and smiling. "You got scared, I understand. It's hard protecting everyone else, right? I would've done the same, except I wouldn't have smashed the supports of a burning mansion. Architecture class, thank you for your providence." She made a mock prayer with her hands, bending over.

Sora jaunted his head up, waving his hands in denial. "No! No, you guys can take care of yourself, it's just…"

"You didn't want to get hurt?" Kairi blinked, feeling a little ball of disgust pool in her stomach despite herself. The Sora she knew was no coward, not when there were people in need. _Especially_ when there were people in need.

"No, no, I really wasn't thinking about me, it's just…"

"Just…"

"Just that…"

"Yeeeeah?"

"… Well, it's… uh… Roxas and Namine!" Sora suddenly looked far too eager to be sincere, although Sora being eager was nothing new. The redhead let her breath loose between O-rounded lips, carefully getting to her feet to stop the precarious rubble above from tipping in.

"I mean, they've only just gotten their own bodies back, being alive and all. So I thought -you know, because I'm so thinky- that I should be all heroic and get them out and stuff!"

Kairi looked around, her knees bent as she slipped a leg away from the gaping hole in the roof, listening out for any cries from the rest. Even with Sora yakking away, it should be discernable. The sounds of gunfire and collapse were non-existent here, the air achieving some semblance of oxygenation. Even the floor was soft, almost bouncy like a springboard.

"That's very nice, Sora."

"Yeah, pretty cool, huh?" Sora beamed, clumsily pulling himself up with the aid of a jarring rut in the wall.

"Except for the part where you acted without thinking, and when you lied." She murmured absent-mindedly, looking around for a way out of the debris-strewn room.

"Lie? Me? Why would I lie to you?" Sora choked out, and the awkward placement of his words were like the mortar sealing Kairi's hypothesis. "I don't know, Sora, you tell me why you need to lie to me."

"I don't!"

"Then tell me the truth!" Kairi spun, stomping angrily towards the now-cringing boy, the cascading dust sticking to her hair and her face. She knew she probably looked like crap, but having her closest friend try to _deceive_ her, of all people! He knew there wasn't any point, and he still did it!

"So what is it, Sora, you wanted to be the hero? Do you think that we're stealing your stoplight? Are you scared? Did you think _They'll be fine_ and try to run off by yourself? Maybe you wanted to break something, huh? Here's a newsflash, after that little stunt you pulled _I_ felt like breaking something, but do you see me plowing your face into a diorama of the roman cultivation system?! Why. Did. You. Do. What. You. DID?!" Kairi shouted, putting as much force into her voice as she dared, and even with the occasional puff of dirty air clogging her tubes to break her flow, she felt that she got the message across.

Until she opened her eyes, and saw Sora standing with a stern expression on his face, Ultima in hand and resting point-first on the ground.

"I did it to keep you safe."

Kairi felt the anger, the frustration boiling at the boy drain away to leave only smoking hot embarrassment. She felt her Keyblade drop, her hands drift to her sides as the drive within her faded away, replaced with a sense of deep, unyielding concern.

"But you could have died!"

"Yes, but you would have lived." He replied, unblinking.

"I'm not somebody you need to give your life up for, Sora." She stifled a sob, trying not to think about what would have happened to them both if luck hadn't stopped the structure from crushing them. "I don't care if I'm a Princess of Heart, I'm not defenseless, and I don't want you to think of me as if I am."

"I didn't try to save you because you're a princess." Sora said softly, walking towards the trembling girl, "I tried because you're you, you're Kairi, and I…"

"Stop."

The Oathkeeper was instantly re-summoned, the Reflega forming the protective Beehive Barrier around the two as the moment was broken. The voice had come from above them, through the rubble and broken construction and was quiet in a way that made it impossible to ignore.

"Is that you, Marluxia?" Sora called up, remembering the man's stressing of the 'p' when they had met him in the foyer.

"Very good, Keyblader. You are fortunate that I just happened to be passing by."

"Yeah! That's lucky as hell!"

Kairi almost said something, then. But it was help, a way out, and she didn't voice that it was very, very strange that a man would be walking around a burning building near the exact same place where Sora and Kairi were located, _just after they had been separated._

"If you will notice the plants beneath your feet, you will just need to sit and I will weave them into bringing you back upwards."

Sora and Kairi looked down, and saw the floor was covered with massive, flowing vines that were flat enough to mistake for an actual wooden floor. Suddenly the bounciness of the surface made a little more sense. As they sat, clearing the odd pieces that lay scattered underneath them, they could hear a muffled chanting coming from the top, before a multitude of thin grey lines began slipping through the hole in the ceiling, writhing over the walls to sink themselves into the vegetation hidden under the dust.

The two lurched, gripping each other for support as they rose on a pillar of green, occasionally swaying from left to right as it balanced the weight.

_And we just so happened to land on something soft, with only this guy letting us up, huh? Does he think we're stupid? If it wasn't for that sparkly Vampire movie I saw last month, I'd call it the worst story I'd ever experienced…_

Kairi glanced over at Sora's unassuming, keen expression, eyes gleaming with the idea of rescue.

_Okay, I can give him a little credit for thinking we're idiots._

The beams overhead shifted over to the side, settling on the edge of the hole. Kairi looked over and saw more vines gripping the timber as she peeked over the gap in the now-converted-floor.

_So those were already there, were they? So that's how he stopped us from getting crushed. What's his game?_

"We owe you one, Marly." Sora grinned as he stepped off into the covered room, laughing when a leaf brushed by his cheek. "We might've died if the plants hadn't stopped the beams."

"Yeah, good thing you and the plants were there exactly when and where we needed you." Kairi nudged Sora in the side, trying to convey the message and only receiving a wounded look in return.

"My friends grow everywhere in the house and tell me everything, relax. Besides, are you saying you would rather spend your days trapped in my basement?"

_In other words: Shut up, bitch, or back you go. _Kairi groaned inside, she would have to find another way to beat her suspicions into Sora's thick skull later. Hopefully away from any interruptions, for although she appreciated freedom, Kairi would have rathered that Mar- that Lumaria had come perhaps a minute later.

"Now, let us find the guides, I'm sure they wouldn't have gone far."

Sora looked up at the second hole in the ceiling, whimpering at the drop they'd taken.

"I wonder how everyone is doing?"

--

"Smash through the walls and find them!"

"Are you nuts?! Remember when spiky tried it?!"

After Sora and Kairi had fallen, Roxas and Namine had gone off sprinting off to search for a way to descend to the lower level. Riku had stayed behind to see if there was any way down the breach, wasting precious seconds with his hurried searching before giving up the entire thing as hopeless, dragging Yuffie along once she came back to retrieve him.

In the event of this, however, they had lost track of the Nobodies. Too cautious of hostile forces to shout out for them, the two had resorted to rushing around the smoky halls for a set of stairs. They had traveled down one hall for a fair while until they reached a burning stretch that seemed to carry along for at least another thirty metres. Riku, summoning his Keyblade and letting loose a volley of Blizzaga spells could only look on in despair as the spells melted before they reached the stacks of fallen oak and pine. Yuffie pulled out her giant shuriken in a puff of steam, breaking down the only visible door to find a tiny stone chute with a rope running down the centre.

"Dumb waiter!"

"You're one to talk!"

Yuffie groaned with frustration, "I meant there's a way down, down the tunnel thing!" She tugged the rope, which fell to pieces in her hands, wet with rot and slime.

"Any chance of keeping our legs intact when we get there?" Riku snarked from his side of the corridor, keeping watch over both sides and twitching every time the house shook. The thumping was getting stronger, uncomfortably powerful as they continued to search for other ways out, the end they were hoping to leave had caved in from fire damage, blackening the air with soot.

"Uh…" Yuffie muttered, looking around to find a new route. Her gaze, however, drawn by a sixth sense she was barely aware of, turned towards the burning pile at the other end of the passage.

She could hear something sniffing. Something massive, massive enough that she could hear it snorting over the crackling of burning wood and the silver boy's heated cursing. She remembered something, once, her father reading her stories in bed about Ninja who traveled to far-off lands… and the imitations he would do of a grizzly bear.

"Riku… back up a second… please?" Yuffie whimpered, watching the shadows over the flaming heap change and flicker. The gloom behind them suddenly turned solid, and the vibrations in the house had ceased. Riku, however, was too involved in shouting at the smoking walls to listen.

It was then the heap exploded. Scorched planks erupted and crashed down the pathway, a few stray pieces catching the unprepared boy on his thigh and spinning him over, dragging him along the wall to deposit him against the smoldering carpet. Yuffie had bent over backwards, her limbs twisting and vaulting off the ground to avoid the flying debris, and once her eyes cleared she began to understand just what had happened

It was… a thing. There was no way she could think of it as anything other than a disgusting mutation. It was humanoid, a face without eyes and a huge nose sunk deep into a hulkish neck, connecting to a swollen chest and grotesquely engorged arms that pulled the massive beast along its atrophied legs, punching into the floorboards and stone with a motion that shook the mansion. But aside for its hideous appearance, it had a feel of incredible pain, the mouth latched shut with a series of artificial tendons and the muscles over the forehead stretched into a grimace.

It sniffed again, shaking its fists that held a few tiny patches of bubbling flesh, dragging it over the white-hot coals to cauterize the damaged knuckles. With a tiny grunt, trapped inside its chest, the thing started forward with its flat nose still sniffling. As it advanced, Yuffie could see that it was bleeding from several holes in its chest and arms, evidence of an encounter with gunfire and possible regenerative properties.

She checked over to her left, where Riku was hissing as he popped potion after potion over his leg, covered with gashes from the wooden missiles. The thing paused, made an inquisitive noise, a deep grunt, and then the tendons around its mouth unraveled. Inhaling deeply with a sound like a water pump, Yuffie ran over to Riku, Shuriken raised to protect them both against a charge that never came.

To be fair, the blade would have had little effect against something that size if it had begun running. And as Yuffie soon realized; when the beast projectile vomited over ten feet to cover the hallway in steaming, retch-inducing bile, that it was not much good at preventing herself from getting covered in puke either. She screamed, slapping at her arms to remove the sticky film and shivering with agony when the potent acid began burning into her flesh.

_Then_ the thing charged, knuckles crunching the floor in its haste to build momentum. A primal roar was let loose, the bellowing monster actually smacking into walls and dredging great lines through the plaster as it bounced around. Guided by the smell of dissolving flesh, it made a beeline for the two young teens.

"Now!"

The creature raised its fists, leaping headfirst like a Superman knockoff before crashing into Riku's dark shield. Deflected into the wall, Riku's Keyblade slashed over into its leg tendons, just behind the knee, his reflexes not bound by the stomach mucus thanks to Yuffie's form. The thing roared, punching through the partition to brush Riku aside in an open backhand like a beach ball. Yuffie, biting back the pain and possessing of enough sense to remember Cloud doing the same thing with Squall in a practice match, jumped into the wall, dug her feet in and sprung parallel to it. As Riku flew past, she reached out and pushed down on his chest, utilizing her chakra to enhance the motion and increase her momentum.

The end result, apart from Riku getting slammed into the floor, was that Yuffie was now in striking range of the creature's back. She withdrew a kunai from her sleeve and stabbed down into the space between the neck and shoulder, hoping to hit an artery and instead hitting only blubber. Undeterred by the curious noises the beast was making (Proving that it hadn't even felt the attack… or was incapable of it) she released seals that she had set inside her own body, grabbing needles and more kunai out of thin air and striking down in a mad fit of desperation. The monster, now aware that something was on top of it as it disengaged from the wall, began thrashing and tossed the girl off before she could get a grip on the embedded weapons.

It turned, putting its feet back on the ground and swiveling to face the prone Ninja. It could smell the fear, the blood, and it could almost taste the meat on the girl. Slowly, it raised its fists again, unballing to reveal glistening fangs that curved and dripped with venom.

"Ninja girl, drop!"

Instinct took over, and she stopped trying to rise in favor of falling flat on her back to watch a black-edged fireball sail over her to impact and bloom in the thing's face. It flinched back, moaning in pain as the magical flames crawled up its nasal cavities and melted the passages shut. Yuffie leapt up while it clawed over its face, summoning one last giant Shuriken and swinging the weapon overhead, burying the point deep into its forehead.

The thing froze, shuddered, the claws clenched and carved down through the skin, piercing skin and severing muscle. With a final whimper, the monster dropped down as the girl leapt aside to avoid it, gasping for breath in the unkind air, wheezing and leaning on her knees.

"Yuffie… help."

Yuffie turned to see Riku hobbling over, blood soaking over a rip in his robes, pouring freely from a jagged cut that ran down his knee to his ankle, traces of poison glistening around the line. He shuddered, dropping to his knees as the antigen began corrupting his flesh, eyes wide and pupils large as shock began to take hold over. The Ninja gulped, dropping to his side and forming a two-fingered seal, trying to remember every step that Aerith had taught her…

"Heal."

She felt the harmony leave her head, slipping to piece together the skin and muscle, expelling poisons in a sick black mist that curled back onto the floor. Placing a hand on Riku's head, she checked his eyes for contraction, hoping that her spell was enough to prevent his body from over reacting to the psychosomatic shock. She could feel his breath, cold and fluttering on her neck, and she tried to remember when he was breathing hard and hot and… no, she did not want to think of that. This was not the place for it. There would never be a place for it.

"Can you walk?" She asked, relieved when his eyes focused again. He nodded, and she helped him up, grabbing the middle of his robes to hoist him up. He laughed, his chuckles weak and reedy from combined fatigue and pain after he winkled his nose.

"You smell like shit, Ninja girl."

"Thanks for noticing." She sighed, looking around the new path that the creature had cleared for them down the hall. She took a step forward; when a rumbling sound made her look up again, her legs shaking when she saw the beast rise again. It stood, soundless and terrible, a great rolling movement traversing and rippling its abdomen, swelling and bloating until…

"What the fu-"

It burst.

"-ckPLERGHGACKARGH!!"

The walls, already smoking as the acid chewed through it, were drenched again in putrid viscera, blood and bits of muscles strewn now along the upholstery. The air stunk of a Carnal pit, the scent of vomit and piss threatened to knock out the two who grabbed each other for support as their own puke escaped and mingled with the gunk now that filled their world.

And then there was roaring, and rumbling, and three more things turned the far corner and began to charge, lured by the beaconing stench of their fallen comrade.

Yuffie turned to look at Riku, not daring to wipe her mouth or spit when so much filth encrusted her hand.

"The chute."

He looked over to the doorway, nodded, and jumped in, pulling Yuffie with him, shield ready to cushion their impact.

Outside, the things roared and raged as their prey escaped, destroying the section around them with lumbering swings of their massive fists.

--

Roxas and Namine continued to run, their hurried feet skipping over jutting bits of masonry and avoiding the heavy footfalls of armed soldiers that sometimes missed them by only a single plane of plywood. They searched, found another flight of stairs, and took the steps three at a time, only pausing to catch their breath and search another floor, trusting to the bond that they could feel in the back of their heads, drawing them closer to the people of whom they were born. They felt warmth, anxiety, fear, some their own, some of their others, and so it continued until Namine felt her brain become swamped with suspicion. She paused, looked over to her right, guided by the strong emotion to tug on Roxas' arm and direct him down another path.

"You sure they're down here?"

"Absolutely."

With those words, they continued through, Namine's spells forcing doors from their hinges and blowing open great chunks in the mansion as they made their way closer. Namine felt the suspicion ebb to be replaced with a mellow calm, too weak a feeling to point her in the direction of her friends. She stopped, blinking in the ambient heat.

"I've lost it."

"We'll just have to keep going, then."

They looked at each other, and shook their heads in unison. While both Sora and Kairi were apparently whole again, Roxas believed that Sora still had a mind in the mail when it came to his decisions.

Frowning, they set off again, the hems of their clothing ripping and searing with burning holes from the ashes in the air, managing to bypass another portal with a Keyblade into the frame. They paused, looked into the large hall, and quickly ran out over the balcony, dropping to the floor when a hail of bullets ran into Namine's Reflectga. Watching the wall above them begin to shred itself with shrapnel, the Nobodies waited until the firing stopped, Namine motioning to Roxas that she would keep the defences up while he attacked with Ice spells. With that in mind, they rose…

… Only to end up looking across the wide expanse of a ten-metre drop to the entrance hall, where a howitzer-like cannon had been emplaced, possibly dropped through the gaping tear in the ceiling. They looked down, down the black shaft of the barrel, down until Namine swore that she could see the shell in her terror, down as Roxas' Ice bolt covered over the opening of the firing port, and down as the shell struck the unyielding ice and exploded. The ammo caught with the first detonation, setting off the supply with a series of loud cracks that ripped open the screaming Sylvaen who tended to the emplacement. Shards of hot metal pockmarked the entire room, missing the Nobodies who had fallen back to the floor, relying on the thick canopy edging to protect them from the worst of the carnage.

Time passed, and they cautiously peeked over the banister to the smoking ruin beneath them. Plasma charges had melted away anything organic on that floor, prompting the two to make up their minds and rely on a Graviga spell to slowly bring them down over the edge, their sandals sizzling slightly on the cooling marble.

They waited there for a moment, hoping that help would arrive, and it did. From the burning, withered remains of the once abundant greenery came the agents, rubber masks shining from the blasts and miniguns unslung, pointed at the doorway. They ignored the nobodies, taking defensive positions without a word and settling into crouching stances to offset the kickback of their weapons. The two shrugged, and opted to continue searching the buildings, until a pair of bickering voices alerted them to the presence of other humanoids.

"…can't have gotten far, their quarters were only five turns away from the entrance…"

"Did you account for the fact that they would have been blocked off- Auntie, you were right! I see the Sun-hairs!"

Covered in dust and blood, Feni and Hive emerged from a foyer room, their faces covered in grime and smiling as they caught sight of the two. Feni patted the younger Sylvaen's shoulder, motioning to the agents.

"One of them will have Lumaria's location, I'll go grab him while you get the kids out of here… hang on, where are the others? Roxas? Nami?"

"Sora and Kairi fell down a couple of floors, we're looking for them. Riku and Yuffie were right behind us, but…" Namine trailed off, looked embarrassed. "I guess we lost them."

"Wonderful. Fine. Hive, you get them out of here; take the portal to Commi-Shst'hau. I'll grab the others and take them to T'en. We'll meet up whenever the HIST have mobilized, yeah? Roxas, Namine, just go with her, I'll get a couple of agents and we'll peel the place for the others." Feni ordered, getting only a nod from her adopted niece.

"Got it. Come on, kids, I've still got enough juice to do a little forced prime setting." Hive shook herself, dislodging some of the dust and making her sneeze, "You watch out for anyone behind us, this'll only take a minute…"

--

"Sora, my boy, _do_ stop hiding around every corner. The majority of the fighting is focused on the east wing, while we are in the south foyer, so I do believe we have at least a modicum of safety enforced upon us." Lumaria sighed dramatically, raising a careful eyebrow when his two charges glared back at him in force.

"Last I checked, being safe implied that you weren't woken up in the middle of the night to a burning house." Sora spat, wincing as a stretched muscle complained from his floor-descending ride.

"An inconvenient oversight, at most. I can replace the Agents, and the manse was in need of renovation, although the fire-and-brimstone affect doesn't quite seem to match the carpets. Why? Are you being shot at, hmm? Do you hear the cries of 'I don't give a fuck about you; I'm made of laughy-taffy motherfucker, mustard! Zap yo' dumb ass!' followed by gunfire? Or would you rather spend the time with great genetic freaks screaming at their foes about how they are foolish females of a canine persuasion, and how their weapons are ineffective due to their being a Juggernaut?"

"Errr… what?"

"Just shut up and follow him, Sora." Kairi sighed, having long given up trying to understand the references of the eccentric florist, who now seemed to be voicing an act involving a man named Charles, a man who continually made references to his pimp-cane, and a sotto-voce woman whose only line seemed to be 'Fuck you, motherfucker, I'mma whoop yo' ass!'.

"What exactly are you doing, Lu? Are you parroting Hae'l parodies again?" A Sylvaen wearing only a pair of slack leather pants and struggling to wrap towels around its torso peeked around a door in the corridor, startling the two humans.

"I'm taking the children to find their guide." Came the calm reply.

"Oh? You mean the Warden? She was heading for the main foyer, last I saw. But… uh, Sir? We could use your talents, what with the fact that most of the guys here are from the Order clan and can't manipulate fire any…" The Sylvaen lowered its covered head, voice growing quiet as it begged.

"You wish for my saturation weaves? Very well, you shall accompany me to the inner sanctum; the plants will be more than willing to inhale the released moisture from the fire there. Sora, Kairi, take a left at the next turn, and take the second to last right at the end. That should lead you to the foyer, good luck, for this is where we part ways."

"Oh… uh… Sorry about killing you and all. See you later, I guess." Sora coughed, edging away from the already departing pair. Lumaria didn't seem to notice, picking up speed as the other Sylvaen began explaining the extent of the damage.

"Eleven hectares of the construct are either aflame or destroyed from the crossfire; the west wing survived most of the battle, which suggests that they knew about the Cyro-freezing chamber…"

Kairi tugged his arm, and again they set off, hoping to clear their lungs of the thin smoke as soon as possible. As they turned the corner, moaning in appreciation of the empty passage that beckoned them, they picked up their feet and ran, sandals leaving shallow indents in the wood and a hollow clatter of noise, finished with a twin squeak as the two found the mentioned turn, skidding over the varnished wood. The heavy door at the end to the wide vestibule opened slowly, but the background throbbing became a roar of gunfire and spells as the soundproof barrier swung open.

It had only been five minutes since Hive had spirited Roxas and Namine away, but had they seen the lobby now, they would have been terrified of the changes. Agents had their guns spinning, muzzles flashing white from blackened barrels, the spent cases of their ammo a thousand streams of brass that fountained over trenchcoat-clad shoulders. The recoil of the miniguns shook the very ground as the cyborgs barked orders and grunted into silence as bright twisting wists of spellweave found their mark.

Here, an Agent swatted away a gluey liquid that had sealed his feet to the floor, crawling higher and higher until the glop covered the flailing android. Being technically unbudgable, the Agent's enhanced muscles could not remove the gunk covering him without dropping its weapon, although after a few seconds it gave up, opening fire once more as its comrades relayed target information to compensate for its covered eyes. With a private air supply, originally intended for protection against nerve gas, the Agent had no worries of prompt suffocation.

The amorphous goo, unperturbed by its apparent failure, merely formed spikes near the head of the Agent, growing solid and strangely crystalline when the inverse thorns stabbed down, piercing the Cyborg's head in several locations.

The Cyborg, in concordance with the paranoid programming of one who does not wish for his competitors to learn his secrets, burst into flames when his neurological chart flatlined.

Other spells were less subtle. Pulses of disruptive energy glided through the room, melting everything and anything they impacted upon, including the chests of the undead guards. Arms, legs, heads with mouths gaping lay ignored and kicked on the bloodied ground. Dark shapes molded old of the shadows of the supporting pillars, ripping faces and pulling off arms before vanishing back into the shade of their birthplaces.

And on the other side of the lobby to the children, crouched behind a thick wall of corpses piled up from earlier was Feni, fingers desperately blurring over a PDA attached to a horizontal Agent with a Sniper rifle. She seemed to be busy, although she screamed as they watched, once in terror when a bullet smashed the Agent's face open and it slumped, then in frustration when she tapped the apparently now-dead communications device.

A chance glance in front of her brought her to sight with the children, who were already racing across the slippery marble with their Reflega spells pinging to the sound of stray rounds and haphazard spellfire. Feni looked over her shoulder, shrugged, and pointed at a shimmering veil of velvet blue that hung on the surface of the wall.

"Jump in!"

"Is everyone already gone?!"

"Yes! Yes! Shut up and get in!"

Trusting that the portal wasn't some sort of sick prank, the two humans rushed forward and jumped, their guide following behind.

--

The descent down the shaft of the dumb waiter was uncomfortable, to say the least. Parts of the masonry jutted out and smacked into Riku's waiting defence and jolted the teens into each other, scoring bruises and bumps along their arms and heads.

Finally, with less of a rough landing then Riku had anticipated, the two crashed down on a bunch of wooden boxes, perhaps replacement trays or some such for the pulley system. Either way, grumbling and with a few groans for good measure, the two tried to stand in the cramped confines of the square tunnel. The screams of the things above could barely be heard, although a loud crashing from above brought down a few bricks from the sides.

"Can't see a fucking thing."

"Hang on; there'll be a switch or something…"

Careful examination led to the discovery of a strange squat cube of metal on top of a metal container. Fiddling around the surface, Yuffie pushed down a lever on the side, triggering something within the cube with a flash of ghostly blue light. A blue sphere seemed to glow through the metal, which faded as the sounds of a motor started up behind the wall. Sucking noises from grates at the bottom of the chute greedily inhaled dust and splinters from the floor, trying to draw in the hem of Riku's robes.

"Water extraction system. Figures." Yuffie huffed, using the light to locate a door to the apparent basement of the complex as Riku continued to free his clothing from the powerful suction. "I've had better luck with vacuum cleaners…" he complained.

Yuffie opened the door, and immediately regretted in once the air rushed out of the tunnel and into the raging blaze that consumed the entire underground. Shielding her face with her hands, the ninja was about to slam it shut when the inferno inexplicably dwindled and died in the space of a second. Blinking, she pushed her hand out, finding the air still incredibly hot, but already cooling from where the tunnel air had circulated it.

"Uh… Riku? I think it's a little fucked up out there."

"This place isn't just fucked up; it's fucked in front of twenty cameras with five big sailors, triple butt rape, a complete lack of lube and a side dish of naughty tentacles to follow." Riku grumbled, rubbing a potion from his already dwindling supply over his leg, "I don't think it can get any worse."

They waited for a minute until the air in the exit was at least a bearable temperature, before slowly setting foot outside of the chute, leaving the door open so that the sound of rushing air would mask their sandals crushing the crumbling ashes beneath them.

"So, what does fire need to live, Riku?" Yuffie muttered, casting suspicious glares at the still-smoldering coals.

"Learned that in Primary School. Fuel, Heat and Oxygen." He ticked off his fingers, trying to remember more. "You know, when they told me about stop, drop and roll, I never really thought I'd ever have to use it."

"I don't think you should bother. Stop, drop and roll doesn't work in hell." Yuffie admitted, noting how the molten paint and other coatings on the walls left great shimmering drippings that slicked the floor. The fire had left the basement bizarrely morphed, the ninja began to wonder if she could compare it to a work by Dante when a number of falling coals broke her back to the present.

It was then, far away from the door through which they had strayed, guided only by the flickering light of the embers, that Yuffie realized that something was terribly wrong. Flames did not go out instantly, and air did not continue rushing into a fully pressurized room unless something was consuming it.

And there was no way that the red-green glow that lit up the other wall perhaps a hundred metres away in this massive room was natural.

There was also no reason to assume that the gentle footsteps that approached them meant anything good.

Yuffie held out her hand, ready to bolt back towards the door with her companion in tow, when the owner of the footsteps walked slowly from around a pillar. She was simply dressed, with a pair of impossibly unmarked robes of cream and a pair of high sandals. She possessed high cheekbones, a tiny pointed chin and an even less prominent nose, her hair a knot of brown curls, her skin marking her as perhaps a Mexican if such people existed amongst the Sylvaen.

Most strangely, however, her eyes were shut and her mouth was wide open, making a low, deep noise like a strangled child. Particles that floated on the air were drawn in from a distance of ten feet, spiraling and funneling into the woman's mouth as she strolled on, inhaling unbelievable amounts of air.

"Do you think she's responsible for the lack of air up top?" Riku whispered, backing away slowly.

"Could be, she's probably what killed off the flames down here." Yuffie replied, taking his arm and beginning the withdrawal, unwilling to fight when they were both clearly injured. She looked back at the distance they had to run, and began to despair at the fact that the only way away would corner them.

The woman saw them, eyes flashing open to reveal a miasma of grey before closing them again. Her jaw closed, and there was a feeling of buoyancy once all the air ceased to rush. She moved it around, making smacking noises as if she had just woken up, before casting a bleary gaze on the two humans.

"So… fate had led you to me."

"We just want to pass; we're pilgrims on the way to the fertility festival." Riku proclaimed, remembering Feni's advice.

"Oh? I see, I guess you know exactly what it is for, don't you?" Came the sleepy reply.

"Yeah… we… uh…" Riku cast around, hissing 'Help me!' at Yuffie, who could only stutter, "W-we're helping to set up the b-bunting!"

The tired countenance fell, to be replaced with an arrogant sneer and cold, sharp eyes.

"You really think that I would buy that? You're not pilgrims, you're not acolytes… you're not even Sylvaen, I can smell it." She growled.

"I am a void child, do what I say and move!" Riku knew it was a forlorn hope, but it was at least a shot, and he could at least play his strengths as far as he could. But the woman just laughed and spread out her arms.

"Go ahead. Move me aside. Of course, being a void child, you possess the ability to destroy my very being with only a thought." She looked dead on into the boy's eyes. "Do it, oh void child. Vanquish an Avatar with your might; vanquish Phoen Revaka, Avatar of the air!"

Riku knew, of course, that such a feat was impossible. But if nothing else, a Key to the face would move her, so long as he distracted…

"Riku, wait!" Yuffie cried as he rushed forward, the Way to Dawn dragging up sparks from the floor before he brought it over his shoulder, spitting fireballs and following up the attack with a shield to block any counterattacks that came after it. He watched the flames disappear into nothing as he charged forward and closed the distance, smirking as they released great clouds of smoke that obscured his position, moving to curve lightly from the right to conceal his movements.

And then, he tripped. An intense gust of wind picked up his feet and dropped him face first into a pile of coals, his screams of pain as he clawed over his front was extinguished almost instantly, another pulse of air pushing him into the adjacent wall. His teary eyes opened to see the woman standing perhaps twenty feet away, left hand extended towards him with the palm out. She withdrew it, before pushing them both out in quick succession; two more pulses slammed over him and crushed him further against the crumbling wall. There was a crack as Riku's head snapped back into the brick, and his world went dark.

In the matter of seconds that Riku had been defeated, Yuffie had been channeling her inner energy, remembering the warnings that Feni had given her and noting that with so many particles in the air that the woman had inhaled, there had to be just enough static for her technique to be effective.

God, but it had been so long since she had used a Limit break.

She called her shuriken, nipping her finger for the blood sacrifice and grabbing the massive star of metal as it appeared from thin air, charging the steel with a curious mix of her own energy and the stripped electrons that hung in the air. Small arcs of purple electricity earthed in the black filth on the floor.

She felt guilty for letting Riku become the distraction, but there was only one technique that she had that could move her fast enough, now that the woman's attention was on him. She drew on her inner strength, at last finding the power to boost her speed, lacing her muscles and bones with fortifying chakra, there was only the intonation…

"_Raiton: Aburakenkiri!!_"

She felt the rush, saw the woman's head turn towards her, but by then her legs had already crossed the distance that separated her adversary and herself. She swung the blade out and across, digging her left foot in to maximize the cutting force behind the rolling slash, twisting her entire body with the Shuriken's path.

She felt a slight resistance, some shell covering the personal space of the Sylvaen, and she felt she would fail. Perhaps the Sylvaen had already intercepted the attack? Was her Greased Lightning technique unable to connect?

Was she already dead?

It was a shock to her, then, that she opened her eyes and watched the blade drift along the woman's arm, into her chest, through the flesh and flick out the other side with only a thin sheen of blood sliding out of the wound and onto the Wutain edge. She saw the forked lightning collect into the centre of the woman's torso, her surprised face slowing growing into rage in the adrenaline-driven slow motion.

Then there was the noise of a thunderclap, and the woman was blown back into the ember-filled chasm of the basement, dredging a canyon through the glowing sparks that flew skywards when she passed.

Yuffie collected her breath, and ran as fast as her legs could take her, was Riku still alive?

_God, let him please be alive! I can't get out alone!!_

She blinked away the ash that had blown around from the shockwave of her attack, and when she opened her eyes she found the Avatar standing in front of Riku's prone form, expression grim and deadly serious.

"God, you say?" She said, almost unheard over Yuffie's scraping feet as she shuffled to a halt.

"Wha-?"

"I am unamused, Hae'l." She spoke, the cut on her chest fusing together as she spoke. "Therefore, I ask…"

She was in front of her; she was in front and…

_Ohshitshe'sgotmyheadandsqueezingWHYCAN'TIMOVE?!_

"… where is your god now?"

Yuffie looked into cold yellow eyes and felt something pass through their gaze, before her mind burst like a firecracker, every sense overwhelmed with information. Presented with this situation, it did what every brain did in the circumstances.

Shut down.

--

Roxas, Namine and Hive stood at the edge of a pristine lake, surrounded on every side by familiar trees, soft grass tickling their feet as the two Nobodies removed their sandals and cooled their feet in the pleasant water.

"Man, that was lucky." Roxas hummed happily while Hive closed the portal behind them, Namine nodding agreement and sighing contentedly.

"I wonder if the others got lucky too?"

--

Riku stirred, trying to clear his head of the throbbing. His entire body ached from the trauma the wall had given him before it had collapsed. Or was he the one who had collapsed?

"Good. I was beginning to think you were even frailer than I had believed."

Oh, _right_. Captured, most likely about to be tortured, executed… oh god, they might even force him to watch _reality television._ Bastards!

"If you aren't gone by the time I open my eyes, there's going to be trouble." He grunted, the words deepening the ache in his chest as they passed his throat.

"I must admit, Lumaria isn't nearly as mad as I had believed he was, his plants did an excellent job of corralling you. In fact, without their mentally debilitating pollen, I doubt my psychers would have been able to _suggest_ the boy start attacking the framework or that you should hang behind and search for him while your peers ran on." Phoen gave a happy exhalation, nodding to herself.

"You mean… you hypnotized us? Into a trap?" Riku coughed, trying not to pass out from the pain.

"Oh, absolutely, a trap to separate the Hae'l team and then inspire the renegades who rely on them with false hope. The Traitor's sister, Avatar Vespa, Lumaria… from the moment that Fenismolia tapped Naba's neurocyte stock with location beacons, to the archaic instructions we had left on Hive's 'Present' to your world –honestly, didn't you think it odd that your neurocytes couldn't translate the message?-… Hive's chance escape onto your world, her destroying the only way back to your planet by simple means and then your being shepherded to here. All a plan to end Naba's menace once and for all."

"You're insane, all this effort to kill a man who will already be killed!" Riku cried, "They're going to execute him! Why bother?!" As he spoke, he ran the Avatar's last words through his head, trying figure out just why something didn't match up.

He opened his eyes, finding himself contained within a massive block of bulk-iron armour, almost like a suit of black metal. He strained his eyes to the side, finding that Yuffie was in a similar container to his right, her head drooping and unresponsive. The room was divided into two parts, the far side was clean, comfortably decorated and possessing of two seats that looked very… odd. However, his side consisted of gunmetal grey, large quantities of blood both dried and fresh, and one pacing, irritated Avatar.

"Because I do not entirely trust the HIST, you see." Phoen sniffed, "They have ways of being unpredictable and messing up even a straightforward death ceremony. But once they believe that your Sora, your Keyblades are the solution, they will stand down and allow them to carry on the plan. Of course, those stupid children will not succeed. What will they do when they get there? Open the lock on Naba's heart? Spare me the romance; they will be cut down by the ones who led them there, betrayed by triple agents. And the HIST, well, it'll be too late for them then to realize that they had emplaced too much faith in Hae'l, and then Naba will die."

"You will not touch them! I swear, even if you are a god, if you hurt my friends…" Riku felt the threat trail off as the Avatar gave him a bored look.

"I've heard better threats. You didn't even go into details."

"You seem fond for them yourself. Hive never arrived on our world; and it was Feni who received the message and took us out." Riku blinked, what was going on, anyway?

"What are you talking about; Feni has been with me the entire time." Phoen sniffed, "Idiot Hae'l, am I giving you hallucinations?"

"I'm not! She has a scar on her middle, she's got a ponytail to her hip and she was the one that led us here!"

"Fenismolia had surgery on the scar, and cut off that disgusting tail after she escaped from Hae'l space six years ago!" Phoen retorted, the skin under her eyes twitching, "You lying Hae'l! Filthy, disgusting, insignificant anomaly! I only wish you had a soul, that I could rip it out of you!!" She snarled, teeth gleaming white in the shallow light.

She stopped, spat, and continued pacing around her captives. "Didn't you think it strange, though, that Naba received a sudden visitor and just invited a few kids along to see his relatives?"

"That never happened, we were attacked by Nobodies and had to use your planet as a way to get home." Riku coughed again, trying to clear his head.

_Two stories, but I know my version is what happened. How does she know any of this?_

"Nobodies?" Phoen moaned in irritation, "Your excuses, Hae'l, run thin. I know that whatever I say to be true! If I did not see it happen, it never happened!"

"But that is what happened, whether you like it or not."

Whatever Phoen liked it or not was to remain a mystery, a bleeping came from her pocket that was discovered to be a pair of squares held together with carbon wire. Phoen pushed a section with grumpy impatience, and uttered an angry 'What?!' into the bottom piece, hanging the top near her ear.

For a few seconds, only a vague voice could be heard coming from the other end, but when the woman's fist crunched the phone with a cry of outrage, Riku couldn't help but flinch back.

"Impossible!!"

She turned towards the boy, eyes gleaming deadly in the dark.

"You are sure that it was Feni?!"

"Why… why would I lie?" Riku gasped, feeling a weight clench into his chest. Angling his eyes downward, he saw that the Avatar was pushing the torso section of his restrainer, leaving handprints in the metal like it was wet clay.

"I don't know. Psychers!!"

Two figures warped out of the shadows, heads shaven and expressions blank, their clothes grey and unassuming.

"Search this boy's mind. Then break it. The girl can be consigned to the whore pits, unless there's an opening in the specialist department. Leave a full summary in my organizer by tomorrow." Phoen barked, before fading into nothingness.

The two Sylvaen exchanged a look, chuckled, and looked over at Riku. He didn't miss the way they looked over his hair, but the way they pointed their fingers into their scalp and twisted was beyond him. When they were finished, their craniums were indented, purple lines beginning to stretch between the hollows they had left.

"Now don't make a fuss. It's more paperwork down the tubes if your head explodes." One said in a monotone, although the slightly disgusted hints at the end broke the solemn feel she projected.

"Right, in we go, Kahek. Ready? One… Two… Three!"

They stilled, arms hanging limp at their sides. Riku felt tempted to laugh, except…

Except there was a feeling. Inside his mind, in the back of his head, the feeling that something was going to pieces, something was analyzing, something he couldn't touch, and an itch he couldn't scratch.

Memories came back, his fourth birthday where his mother had baked him cupcakes instead of a cake. Sora's first strutting win over him in a game of sword sparring, Kairi's face as she bit into a Paopu, only to find the romantic fruit to be filled with pith. His succumbing to darkness, Sora striking him down, only to find his soul pushed back and replaced with the darkness of Xehanort's heart. The long year of searching for Roxas and the key to Sora's restoration, watching Kairi look over the great ocean, face frowning in concern for a boy she couldn't remember.

The corruption of his body, after losing to Roxas. The feeling of the darkness welling up, speaking, growling, bellowing…

_GET OUT._

The pyscher's empty bodies jerked upright, faces frozen into place.

_NOT YOURS. MINE. GET OUT._

Now there was something else, pushing back the foreign minds that had invaded him, biting, clawing, forcing the substance back. With a grunt, the inner force ejected the inquisitive forces, the Psycher's eyes opening in confusion a minute later.

"Did something just…"

"… yeah! You too?"

They searched Riku's face, sniggering.

"The Hae'l must be a two-mind or something."

"Amusing, how they go insane so easily."

Riku wanted to scream, wanted to groan, wanted to let his pain free, the force had not stopped at his mind, flowing down his veins and filling his body with strength.

"Think we should try a more direct approach?"

"Couldn't agree more. This'll be fun!"

_Join with me, host. Imbue me with the need you feel. To be free, host! To destroy these fools who play with your mind and wish you harm!_

"Please… stop… it's talking to me…" Riku rattled, his willpower failing under the insidious whispers that filled his head.

_I can break you free, the girl, too. I promise, so long as it keeps you alive, I will offer you rage, power, hatred, strength. Break free, host! Submit to necessity!_

"Awwwwwww. No crying, now!"

"Let's get cracking!"

_Well…?_

Riku looked over to Yuffie's metal coffin, accepting that there was no other way. He felt the restraint, the mental hold he held against the heartless tide weaken and ebb away.

"Yes."

_THEN LET THEM KNOW FEAR!!_

It was instantaneous, the way Riku's muscles swelled, the restraints on his coffin straining at the seams to contain his sudden growth. The Psychers looked on, startled, as the boy's face swarmed with shadows and his eyes turned golden. Claws and dark spikes burst forth from his container, the layers of tempered titanium screeching as parts ripped off, exposing the maelstrom of twisting black mist where his abdomen would have been. They backed away, dashing to open the door only to see tendrils of the same achromous substance latching it shut. They forced psychic rhythms over the binding strands, failing to find anything cognizant within the mindless, instinctual mass.

Looking back, they saw a dark titan with a mane of silver hair tear off the final restraints, a heart-shaped emblem between its eyes burning as it lumbered towards them. A hand bigger than they were whipped out and ensnared the closest Sylvaen, drawing it close to its face.

A mouth formed out of a line on the face, a cruel smile twisting as it spoke.

"_**Do you find this amusing, creep?**_"

The man gibbered, thrashing around to escape the solid grip.

"_**How's this for your fucking Tee-hees?**_" It laughed, pitching the angel through the glass that split the room. It did not stop moving until its head broke through the wall on the other side.

Riku felt a wave of force roll over him, and turned to watch the other Sylvaen throw mental attacks in increasingly undisciplined strikes. He flicked his wrist, watching the limb fly over and slap his opponent into a broken heap by a computer console.

A few minutes later, most of which involving delicately removing Yuffie from her prison, Riku's heartless form stood up and surveyed the room, the two Sylvaen no longer leaking blood over the floor.

"_**Gottta find help..."**_ It muttered, punching open a wall and finding himself twelve stories high off the ground, surrounded by black skyscrapers. "_**Gotta move… gotta get somewhere safe…**_" It repeated, leaping almost vertically to attach and run along the side of another building.

"_**Gotta find help…**_"

--

"See, with Naba… he started out like the rest of us. I was born five years after him, but seeing as I've gone forty-five years since then, I think I know him pretty well." Feni huffed, dragging a massive pull of liquid from the strange container. "…now, imagine there's this outlook on life, where you think that 'That's life, it's all bad things happening to you and there's nothing you can do about it'."

Feni, Sora and Kairi sat in a small drinking establishment in a nondescript town covered with snow; rushing in at the Sylvaen's request to get in out of the cold once she closed the portal. The tavern appeared to be fairly full, with several semi-circles in the wall (Private booths in isolated colonies, Feni told them, were especially favoured for both domestic confidentiality and interdimensional business meetings) surrounded by tinted glass and a long row of high chairs (Essentially the Singles bar) behind which the barwoman stood, a thick club hanging at the ready from her belt (For when the singles got a little too… double).

Finding a booth, claiming a room and ordering drinks, Feni then sat down the kids to begin educating them on Sylvaen history, Naba's predicament, and a little backstory on Sylvaen attitudes to the Avatars.

"That's… uh…" Sora clicked his fingers, "Sounds like death, right?" Kairi put an arm on his shoulder and nodded, "Close enough. It's called Fatalism."

"That's right." Feni nodded, "Now, we were orphaned about ten years after that. And because of that outlook, there wasn't no crying or fussing, since lots of kids our age lost their parents after the fourth conflict." Sora cleared his throat, Feni gave him a narrow look, "What?"

"Knowing the fact that we have absolutely no idea on anything Sylvaen, apart from the notion that they're controlled by a Goddess who lives in a tree, a council that fucks with everything in every way possible, and twelve sealed-evil-in-a-can people that fuck with each other, the council and anything that can speak –sometimes literally- and _in the middle of all this_, there's two sides of _all of these people_, concerned as to whether killing humans is good karma or not. Can we at least know if this has any reason to be some kind of impact in the future?"

The seconds stretched on, while the only angel in the group rehinged her collapsed jaw and the only other teenager rolled her eyes.

"You're sounding more and more like your dad every week, Sora." Kairi giggled, turning to their guide, "Solicitor." She explained with a wink.

"Ooooh, men with money. What a legacy." Feni winked back, "All those fancy words, bet they know the naughty ones too…"

"If you're both done patronizing me…" Sora sulked, "Feni, what are the chances that knowing about the fourth chicken-"

"Aaaaand the stupidity's back." Kairi mumbled to herself.

"-will affect us in the future?"

"Uh… not much. All it explains is why the current Avatars are so young, but-"

She was interrupted by a slender young male with orange wings that wrapped over his thighs, bowing gently as he set down the drinks. Kairi took the pause as he left and ran with it.

"Okay, I heard 'young' and 'current'. So the Avatars switch around or something?" Kairi quizzed up. Feni raised her eyebrows in surprise, before tapping the side of her nose and pushing the strange drinks towards the two.

"Smart human. Avatars don't age, _ever._ Oldest Avatar was Arch-Avatar Hap'set'ran, he was there at E'eon's ascension, the first and only Avatar of Light until the fourth conflict wiped him out. Ten thousand years old, died with a Zodiac Spear in his head. You're an Avatar from the time the spirit mark is found on you, and you can only die by unnatural means. You're the spokesperson of your clan, everyone looks up to you, everyone is either trying to prove you're an imposter or trying to kiss up to you. It's responsibility for thousands of years and then you die horribly."

"But… you get power, right?" Sora tentatively asked, noting how the faces around the table had dropped. He took a sip of his, finding the combination of Pineapple, cream and some spice that tasted like peppery cinnamon to be a little exotic for his tastes, "All that power, you could at least make friends with the ones who understand, right?"

"The only ones that understand Avatars are other Avatars, and yes, they were a rather tight group. Then the fourth conflict ended up with a council obligatorium: no Avatar was allowed to get overly chummy with other Avatars."

"So we're right back to where we started. What is the fourth conflict?"

"Basically, it's when the Avatars got a little big for their boots after ten thousand years and began building private armies of zealots. Unimpressed by the fact that normal people didn't do nearly as much bowing and scraping as they'd like, a secret council was held by the twelve big'uns to determine just what to do about it. Desired outcome? They wanted to be the centre of worship, not E'eon; each clan would worship the Avatar that commanded it and E'eon would be a background presence. There wasn't any real practical reason for it; it was a massive sense of pride that built that kind of need. You know, 'Look at how much hurt we can deal, much better than a peace-lovin' Goddess, ain't we'?"

"They committed hubris? Why is that a bad thing?" Sora asked. Who cared if they worshipped somebody differently?

"Because of two things: One, the Avatars were formed as equals to answer to E'eon for a reason: Delegation and containment of power. If she's removed as the focus of attention, who's going to stop the Avatars from declaring wars on other clans to receive more followers? They're a prideful bunch, most of 'em, and without knowing that there would always be a greater power to keep them deterred, they'd do whatever they could to keep that power."

"So why didn't she stop them herself?" Kairi asked.

"E'eon guides, she does not take direct action. All she can really do is ask the other Avatars to keep her safe. If _all_ the other Avatars are intent on cracking open her shell, then…"

"… She's got nobody to help her out." Sora finished.

"Right. Second, E'eon is probably the only thing that holds us together, the commoners. She's the one who binds us together. We might come from different planets, have different views, different hates, and several other minor Jingoisms, but only in our worship of E'eon are we kept together. There is no idiotic fragmentation, misinterpretation or corruption, like the Hae'l faiths of Christianity and Muslim. E'eon is real, we see her, and she has no words to say to us. We don't write down what she says, because she speaks only to the Avatars. If you take her away, the Sylvaen will probably infight and inbreed themselves into extinction."

"If E'eon's so great, why can't she just up and kill everyone who gets in her way?" Sora repeated, trying to understand the reverence that their guide had for this woman. Feni gave Sora a slow, calculating look, before explaining with both hands held parallel to each other on the table.

"Okay, here it is: The void clan technically has one 'pure' member, that's E'eon, who guides the Avatar spirits into her chosen hosts. The 'Descended' members are the ones who fit two standards and interpret her divine will. They gotta have E'eon's silver hair, and they gotta be in balance."

"Balance?"

"You know… Zenny. At peace. Stoned out on the Universe. And it's from that which they get a certain weave known as The Draw."

"Weave?"

"Humans call it spellcasting. It's like an organic or a physical physics program, made out of magicka. You make it so it does certain things and it does them."

"I… think I get that. What's the Draw?"

"Ah. It's complicated, like, super complicated. Basically, they go into a forced trance for a couple of seconds and their brain makes… like… a cosmic radio. Except they aren't receiving signals, they're sending them."

"I'm with you so far." Kairi nodded, Sora just pouted and played with his glass.

"Okay, now what they do is resonate so that they open a portal to… well… an anti-universe. And then they take some of that stuff and bring it to the world they're on. The exact same stuff, occupying the same space as the stuff brought over from the other universe… you follow?"

Kairi's eyes went to the top of her head as she digested this. She nodded, but slowly. "What does this have to do with E'eon?"

"Well, this is her subordinates. Now, what the Draw does is force matter to occupy the same space as antimatter. You know, to bring balance to it. And when you do that…"

Kairi remembered something from her father's Science magazines; a word, and a word she did not want to hear in this time or place.

'Annihilation."

"Yeah. Sounds like you know what that means. The normal members of the Void clan are weapons of mass destruction, drugged and manipulated by the council into following E'eon. If an Avatar got hold of one of them, convinced it that it was the one to follow, not the Great mother… then it would be a balance through absolute destruction, and the Sylvaen would become nothing… but Void. Now, E'eon defending herself would destroy not only the universe she was in, but perhaps every Sylvaen world that exists."

"And why is that a bad thing?"

Feni glared murder at Kairi, teeth exposed in a throaty snarl, the Redhead not flinching even slightly as the guide's eye twitched.

"Bad? Bad?! We're better then humans, with their pretend divine sense and knockoff legends, their fractured coexistence and their petty squabbling over true dangers. Without us, they would grow and grow and turn into the universal cancer."

"But you know about us, don't you." Sora pointed out, "You've lived among us, you should know we're not _that_ bad."

"You're not a bad person, Sora. Neither are the people you associate with, but I can't use you as a point of reference. In the first homeworld of humans we came across, we were able to get a much clearer idea of the workings of their race. Genocides, Crusades, Holocausts, never-ending war, planet killing. Humans are barbarians, never ceasing to wipe clean everything they touch."

"Coming from a Sylvaen, that's pretty rich. So, seeing as you said all the current Avatars are new, the old ones died and the insurrection failed?" Kairi asked, a trifle smug.

"That's right. They banded together and made their way to the Tree of Life one planet at a time, more or less consuming everything with flames. Armies were swept off the planet –in the case of the Force and Solar Avatars, sometimes literally blown into orbit- and cities were disintegrated. People prayed, elders fluffed about trying to negotiate with the Avatars before they were stripped down to the subatomic level, and the situation was pretty much hopeless."

"They walked up to the sanctum, walked down the halls, and as far as we know, dropped dead just before they opened the doors to the shrine." Feni finished.

"That's a little anticlimactic." Sora scoffed, "You sure they all had some kind of spontaneous heart attack, or is there something we're missing?"

"Good point. Nobody knows for sure, but the major rumours involve something called a Spiritual tether backlash. Basically, a bunch of the most powerful normal Sylvaen forced as much raw magicka into the tree of life as they could, and the strain of converting the pattern of the magicka broke the connections from E'eon to the Avatars, ripping out the Avatar spirits. That in itself isn't fatal or even permanent, but once the Avatars were using big level weaves and constructs with only a trickle of their usual power, it got real bad for them. To make it worse, _they didn't even know that they were running on empty._"

"Ooooh. So why can't they use that on Renegades?" Kairi asked, puzzled. "If they're going to kill Naba, why couldn't they do that in the first place?"

"It's like cutting off your arm for nicking your finger. It's really only worth it if you want to get rid of everything. Plus, Naba's been aware of them having that capability, and hasn't really been using any of his techniques ever since we escaped to human multiverses."

"That… raises a point." Sora raised a finger, elbow on the table.

"It does?" The girls chorused.

"Maybe that's what the council is after, maybe that's what this whole thing is about?" Sora began to grow heady, this could explain so much! "The reason why Naba and some of the others wander around thumbing their nose at everything is because so long as the other Avatars are useful, they won't be killed. But maybe the council is paranoid of them, and by convincing people that the Avatars aren't working in the best interests of the Sylvaen, they will be able to… I don't know, draw up a bill that states that they can kill them all off at any point they'd like?"

There was silence for a while, broken only by the setting down of cups on the table, and slow sips of the drink. Finally, Feni spoke.

"I can see where you're coming from, but that wouldn't work. Avatars are more-or-less celebrities, and their clans tend to take the slaying of them pretty hard. Do it too often and the council might as well draw a dotted line over their necks."

"What if they're Martyrs?"

"They wouldn't have lived this long. The Sylvaen that actually believe in dying for a cause are all out on the front, piloting suicide vehicles. Sora, please, don't try to understand any of this, I can't condense ten thousand years of tensions, political struggles and clan history into five days or even five decades. Just accept that we're in trouble, your friends are in trouble, and that the plan we started with is going to hell."

There was a moment of calm and deep thought as they sat back to drink. The two humans looked around the small booth, with Kairi trying to further her relaxation by breathing in time to the rolling harp music.

"So… what do we do now?"

Feni choked on her drink, startled by the sudden question. "We head off to the HIST sanctum nearest Hae'van, that'll probably be the place where Naba'll be popped. We can wait for Hive and spend the day figuring out just what the hell is happening to us."

"Can only move and wait, can't defend ourselves, up against gods and supersoldiers… why did you take us along?" Kairi sighed.

"You'll see." Was all that Feni would offer.

--

_So, Phoenix, to what do I owe this visit?_

_Fire, Moth. More fire than I expected._

* * *

* * *

_Right! Now, I'll be on haitus for updates while I begin re-editing the entire story. Anybody who wishes to give a hand while I go at it will be appreciated. Plus, I'm re-enrolling and moving to a new city, so don't expect any updates for at least three months. Till next time._


	22. Sura 78

Technically, this has nothing to do with the kids. But after so long of doing Jack and writing for other stories, I thought my loyal readers (What's left of them) would like to peer into the mind of an Avatar. A little backstory, a little emotion... and half an hour of letting my brain sit on autopilot and tell the story inside my head...

* * *

_Do you remember, Lady Eeon? Do you remember? We all have our titles. When you were born, you were just Eeon. When I was born… yes. When the others were born, yes. We had names, not titles. We had names because we were people, we were real, we could die and we could continue and we could walk the worlds. We sang, because we thought we were going to die and find ourselves cast out into the unknown lands beyond the stars._

_And then you showed us that we would have powerful spirits, gods walking amongst flesh, shown by their markings and the unmistakable aura of the unnatural. Wherever we walked, there was something strange, something sinister always walking in our wake. Or maybe it was just me._

_Do you remember? Lady Eeon? Do you remember what we sang when first our race crossed to the worlds beyond the void? A series of chants all praising your name, the Worldcrossing Litanies that were spawned of the first glimpse of hope that our race had found in an age. You paid the cost… how? You are venerated, worshiped, sleeping in a metal tomb like an infant in the womb. We are the ones paying your price for you, infused with things most definitely not meant to inhabit us._

_Worldcrossing Litanies, spun from hope. Now nothing more than the siren song of young fools and old monsters who have everything to gain and their spirits to lose. War, Lady Eeon. Do you remember war? You ascended in a great shower of righteous gore, sending evil back into the darkness behind our eyes through fear of death. Thanks to you, the Avatars conquered death, and now we have no fear._

_Do you remember, Lady Eeon? Do you remember the Avatars? Of course you do. That was the bargain. We live forever, and die with our bodies broken and souls warped from fusing with the universe. The spirits taught one spell to the masses, and now we suffer for eternity. This is our price, this power is not ours, the time our lives are spent in is not ours, and even in my case, my life is not mine. We have been working, Lady Eeon, to end the suffering that you created. Yes, you are pure. Yes, you are holy. Yes, you are unnatural._

_But even the unnatural die, sooner or later. I should know. I've died already. I had to go to a strange world to do it. I had to ally with strange creatures, working with bizarre rules, to learn how to do it. Because even now the power of the Avatars is diminished. I can do nothing. The woman I love can do nothing. My daughter, even if I told her the truth, can do nothing. My mentor, my comrade, my mechanus, my rival, my foe, my kin and my sin can do nothing. To do something, I must commit evil. To destroy you is the greatest evil. I've been working up to it. I killed Humans. I killed my race. I've killed my mother and my father and my best friend. And I forced myself to enjoy it, because… I love you, Lady Eeon. I love what you did for us. I want to be like you, if only to be viewed as your opposite. I want to kill you. I must._

_Do you remember, Lady Eeon? The humans? When Avatar Vansabad told you about them not five thousand years back, you thought they were adorable. A purely childlike race, pretending to know anything when they could scarce reach forty years, not even adulthood by our standards. Now they live till at least a hundred and fifty. And they learn quickly, like we were when the universe still held mysteries. Now our children are being taught to hate them because the council is trying to segregate the clans. Once the humans are dead, they will claim that it was the integration of caste and clan that warped their 'soulless' minds to commit hubris, and that we will soon follow the same route. Now I know that their claims to divinity are laughable at best, but the best we can do is ignore them._

_But now the council are teaching my precious, precious daughter to enjoy slaughter. As Avatar, this is unforgivable. My honour and her father will not forgive. They claim to use your name. They claim to use your teachings. They claim to be your intermediaries. So long as you live, so will they. _

_And so long as you live, Lady Eeon, there will be Avatars. Maybe we are the Hae'l, the freakish combination of Sylvaen and the entire universe in one fleshy, feebleminded body… Eternal until battle claims us. So long as we live, battle will be seen as the means to the end. Tao once asked were the precedent to that was, he and Hive leaned forward so hard, like I had to dispense mighty wisdom there and then. I wanted to say, 'Damn you, boy! You are the precedent! We all are! You can marry and love and have a thousand children and live-forever, but it's all for naught. You will die horribly. Forever!' But I could not say it. I cannot corrupt my children. I cannot corrupt your children, either. But they corrupt themselves._

_And you help. You say that no longer are we Sylvaen when we stand before you in the Sephiroth. We are Quasi-Sylvaen, we are half-Sylvaen, we are false-Sylvaen, because behind our faces are minds of nothing-gods. Behind our skin and plumage there lives only the screaming voices of the Universal pattern. Inside our heads lives the sentience of star-beings. We aren't Sylvaen, like our mothers and foremothers. We're yours, and your children's. We're things, toys or tools or whatever you want us to be that millenia._

_You tell us that when you give us our titles, Lady Eeon. The others, the people who are people and not Avatars, they admire us. We love that. It's either Ironic or Heartwarming, sometimes it's one because of the other, or both, or one or the other because it's both. The give us titles. Remember mine, Lady Eeon? When I was only thirty, I remember the first time I told you what they called me because you were beautiful and reminded me that I'd killed my mother in cold blood but you would listen. They called me the Judge. The called me the Speaker, the Voice, the Announcement, the Message of the Goddess. I was an Angel. And then the plan moved forward and I performed horror upon horror. Crashing the moons into inhabited planets and consuming the billions of souls, murdering my best friend in a drunken rage, killing untold numbers of humans. They even started calling me the Lord of Rust after the first Satellite Avatar, because my blades were covered in so much blood that even the iron __within__ the lifefluid began to stick to the metal and turned black. I never washed it, you see. Had to cultivate an image._

_But you, Eeon. You knew from the start. You knew what I was, and I thought you were joking at first. And that brings us back to the start. Titles, Lady Eeon, titles. The day you gave me that title, the day you made me your slave, the day you sentenced me. Maybe you planned this, all along. Mekta, that lovable bastard that he is, said that you held the power of Shadow yourself. Do you want me to kill you, Goddess of the Void? Are you tired? I doubt it, if you can survive Ten Thousand years in a coffin; you're probably set for life. Or maybe you're sorry that things have come to this. In that one conflict, all your children rose up against you and your kin protected you at all cost. Maybe you were tired of dying, maybe you knew that they rose up not out of pride, but pain. Maybe, after Ten Thousand years, you're finally ready to face up to what you did, what you still do. Maybe, so long ago, you took the first option, gave up yourself, and now you can see what it's doing to our race. _

_Heh. That's funny, actually. If I already wasn't hated and despised, I'd be so for suggesting that the almighty Lady Eeon could make a mistake. Funny._

_Funny. Yeah, remember the dimensional breach magicka you taught us? The Satellite clan went to the halls with that one. Suddenly, the realm of the dead isn't so far off. Our ancestors can fight with us again? Excellent. Sure, if you kill the conduit they go nutso and slaughter the rest of the mages, but what's that to a clan that grew up putting the ballistic in cannibalistic and eats the dead? And I'm the Avatar. I can bring anything back to life but myself. And then I found a place where you can… kinda. It's working. The kids were easy to fool. You know how children are. I'll probably make sure they're returned alive… I'll try, anyway. The girls look tasty, though… maybe a quick nibble… heh, bad joke._

_Do you remember, Lady Eeon? Do you remember me? I'm Naba son Gaerthe, the Avatar of Satellites, the Evil one, the Slayer, the Necromancer, the Sin that blights the Universe, the Fallen Angel, the Avatar of Wrath, of Avarice and of Death. I am coming for you. I am going to end this, I'm going to end this war and this madness and most of all I am going to end you._

_Still don't remember me? Maybe I'll refresh your memory. Remember the title you gave me?_

_The Abomination. That's something to call a kid of twenty._

_Lady Eeon, I'm coming to tell you personally that Self-fulfilling prophecies are a bitch. I'm going to open your shell and let you breathe fresh air for the first time in ten thousand years. I'm going to present you to the Sun. I'm going to show you the moon. I'll conjure the feel of earth on your skin and sate your thirst with rainwater and warm your skin with fire and tickle your hairs with air. I'm going to expose you to gravity and time and the workings of the universe, one last time. I'm going to let the people see your perfect face one last time. I'm going to let you experience all the beauty and wonder and goodness that this world has again, and I'm going to cry and thank you for making it so._

_Then I'll kill you. I love you, Lady Eeon. But I love Djava and Hive and young Tao and Mekta and Sethe and Wrothiin and those two brats Meechiika and Phase and Omnivae who cuddled me when my parents 'died' and old lady Kaedjii and… hell… I even love Phoen, who's probably best for Djava in her own weird little way. Djava's not mine, anyway. But I see their faces and they hurt, Lady Eeon. They hurt so much that it kills me to see them know their fate and bear it anyway. No more bearing the pain of untold billions, no more martyrs, Lady Eeon._

_That's why I'm killing. That's why I'm the worst fatherfucking shit-kicking Genocidal Specicidal Fratricidal Hae'l bastard monster demon devil fuck that exists and has ever existed, ever. Because I'm a fucking Abomination that fell in love with everything he killed. _

_Now I'm going to kill you, Beloved Lady Eeon._

_…_

_…_

_…_

_… _

_Because this... everything...  
_

_Has._

_To. _

_Stop._

* * *

Soon, people. I'll get to work on the rest soon. Till then.


	23. RNH: Day One: Losing Lunch

_Change in format plans: I will do One day a chapter for each of the groups. Nine chapters in all, one chapter for the reunion at Haevan, one chapter for the epic fight, one for the epilogue._

_To everyone who asked for sexy... we'll see. I'm considering just letting it pause until this story's down, then do oneshots.  
_

* * *

"… I'm sorry, what?"

Roxas hauled himself to a stand, clinging to Namine's arm as she stood stock still. Already his feet were itching with from the grazing silica of the grass, sores and infant blisters complaining at the removal of the cool water's chill. His hair bounced a little in the wind, waiting for an answer from the grim-faced angel in front of them, ignoring the pleas of his own body.

"We're staying here until the last day. Make yourself comfortable, you've got two days of sleep to catch up on, and the training's going to be harsh,"

Namine stepped forward, her robes ripped and fraying. A second set of underrobes, laced like a full-body petticoat showed themselves underneath, everything stained with blood and dirt and absently-smeared ashes. Concern was written on her porcelain face, fresh cuts that her Cure magic had missed bled slowly down her forehead only to be wiped away into smudges.

"I thought this was supposed to be an in-and-out kind of trip? Please, we need to find the others again; we have more of a chance to survive if we're-"

"He will kill you if you do."

The wind blew, nothing else sounded but the ruffled grass and the slow breathing of those who stood at the water's edge. Hive, hanging her head, turned away from the children to sit down and dangle her feet in the water.

"I've been reading his notes. I know his tricks. Feni told me what he was planning, what he still plans. He thinks that only through Death can our salvation be reached, and who should know better than the man who is the living bridge between this land and the Dark?" Hive's voice was a mumble, tremors of anger and fear carrying her words across.

"What… whose tricks? Saix? He's dead. Oh! So that was his plan! Die and come back and… does that work here?" Roxas tried to pick his words, to make sense, but nothing did. Nothing seemed to make sense in a land where strange angels killed humans and plotted and everything seemed aimed to stop them, to kill them. But that was one of the questions that had been building in him, and he asked at last, Hive and Namine already staring at his slowly contorting face:

"Why has everything been going wrong ever since we came here? Everyone seems to know who we are, where we are, when we are there. Wars happen to stroll along just as we're moving, everyone seems ready to fight, and apparently very rare people show up wherever we go!! What's-!!"

"You speak our language."

He paused, blinked, and grunted. "That's nothing to do with it-"

"You have a Neurocyte, a mechanical device that is small enough to travel in the bloodstream and is powered by neural activity." Hive cut in, her tongue licking over her lips as she contemplated her next sentence, "Did you never think that if we have technology to create a nanobot that can translate inter-dimensional languages, right down to most of the mannerisms and colloquialisms, that we could build it to also be something else?"

"Something else?" Namine sighed, tired of the headgames. "Just tell us, please. I'm tired, I need sleep, and I'm worried for everyone. Just tell us what your reasons are for keeping us away from our friends."

"Right. What's the something?" Roxas added.

"I don't know what the technology on your world is like –You guys didn't come from Hae'l Earth- but there is a likelihood of a device called a… hang on a sec, a _Dremsi, _a _Coodje,_ a _Dremshae_, a Radio, a _Corga-"_

"Radio? Yeah, we have those." Roxas yawned.

Seconds passed.

"Wait, so in our heads… There's a radio?"

"That's right. It'll stay there until it degrades. It's likely to take a couple of hundred years, depending on your metabolism and blood composition… Shit, you're Human. Keep forgetting. It'll be in there until its purged, it'll last longer than your corpse, that's for sure."

"So is this why-" Namine started, a rather horrifying conclusion already forming in her head.

"Yup. Whenever you turned up on the worlds, a certain transmission was broadcast in very low frequencies. I was wondering why the Rakshasa's scanner was turning up with an SOS saying 'The children have arrived, proceed as planned.'"

"But Naba was the one who-" Spoke Roxas, who could be a little slow, his friend picked up the slack.

"-That doesn't make sense." Namine retorted, poking a finger into Hive's chest. "If Naba set us up with those things, why did- eh: He just send us back- bee: He let himself get his tongue cut out- see: He do something that would make it harder to perform our quest and- dee: How did everyone move so quick?"

Hive was silent for a minute, swishing her feet in the water. She looked at the sky, at the birds, at a fuming Roxas, at a frowning Namine, and back at the water.

"I'm going to answer your questions in a _revenas-_ crap, a _respective_ manner. Eh: If he hadn't sent you back, he wouldn't have anyone to restore him later. Bee: He's willing to make sacrifices, and I don't think it's permanent damage-"

"-_Permanent dam-_" Roxas spluttered, before Namine clapped a hand over his mouth. Roxas had met several amputees while Kairi's other self made rounds at the local hospitals, using the volunteers to practice new kinds of restorative magic. The disappointment in their eyes as their missing limbs refused to grow back had left an impression on the young man, to say the least.

"-See: He doesn't want you to think too hard, and the best way to do that is to permanently keep you under stress, and Dee: This was planned. A long time ago. What he's planning, I don't know. Even Djava doesn't know the whole story, but she's willing to trust him this time."

"… Which brings us back to the original question, why did you bring us here? We're stronger together, the five of us." Namine blinked, realizing she'd left Yuffie out of the bargain.

"Because Naba didn't plan for this." Hive spoke up, with a wicked grin suddenly appearing on her face. "Naba thinks you'll all arrive en masse, too tired and too hurt to think straight. You'll do that locking thingy he wrote about, and he'll be back. And then he'll wipe you all out before returning to his work, whatever it is."

She spoke a little louder, her entire body seeming to perk up. The two young humans found themselves straightening up a little themselves, their spirits rising from the contagious wave of optimism rolling off the Sylvaen. "But we need to stop them, we need to stop your friends and the false Feni. We need to-"

"Locky-thingy?" Roxas couldn't help but whisper to Namine, the thought playing around in his mind. She shrugged in response and asked her own question.

"False Feni?"

"Ah, that's right. I'll give you the facts, smarty, and you can work it out." Hive winked. "Here's the scenario: A woman in her late teens has suddenly stopped producing estrogen and all those yummy sex chemicals-" She rolled off _sex_ just loud enough to get Roxas to turn a creamy shade of pink, and continued through Namine's scandalized cough. "-Pay attention to the fact, though, that eight years hasn't had any effect despite a working pituitary gland."

Roxas looked absolutely blank as Hive sat back and smiled. Namine began frowning anew.

"Uh… is that important?" He blurted out, looking between the two women. Hive nodded with zeal, Namine less enthusiastically.

"It means she didn't grow up, just older." Namine clarified, irritated with the knowledge that Roxas lacked know-how in plain endocrine and hormone systems.

"Still don't get it." Roxas groaned, holding his hands up and falling back into the grass, reaching out to finger a lock of Namine's hair as he did so.

"Even after puberty, girls get a little taller and fill out, having her ovaries destroyed shouldn't have stopped her from looking a little more adultish. Riku said something about how weird it was."

"Did h-?" Roxas felt something bob at the back of his mind, a little sentence…

"I first met Naba when he moved here eight years ago, he said that the air here would help his sister get better. And you don't look like you've aged a day since then, is that because…."

"She didn't let him finish that sentence, did she?" Namine asked him, to which he made a cautious tilt of his hand.

"Couldn't say. Can't remember that well. Was looking at the scar." Roxas waved it off.

"Moving along." Hive huffed, "Not only that, but chances are that her hair never grew, ditto her fingernails. Her heart would beat perfect time whenever she ran, her brainwaves strangely modulated, her entire being unchanged. Following that logic…" She held her hands out, her body language implying _please finish it for me so I can look so smart at having a brain so powerful I can teach lower lifeforms higher logic._

"… She's a robot! Awesome!!" Roxas whooped, giving a breathless laugh afterwards. Namine flicked his nose in exasperation and sighed at the sky, "I doubt it."

Hive's bubble had been seriously deflated. She settled for just spitting out the answer.

"She's just a body with Feni's then-present pattern spun over it." She huffed, folding her arms. "He killed a human, copied his sister's body and brain, altered the cadaver to match, and restarted it. An intelligent zombie, a _Simulacrum _under his control_._"

"So we've been tricked into rescuing the God of Death, who's trying to do something weird, by a zombie who he designed to mimic his sister." Namine summed it up, Hive beamed. Roxas wondered whose corpse it had been.

"You see? Hae'l _can_ do more than simple addition!" She said, more to herself than the Nobodies in front of her.

"We're still here." Roxas grumpily reminded her. Namine sighed. Hive laughed and told them to sleep on the grass until evening, and she'd cook something up for them in the meantime. It took less than five minutes of squirming for the children to begin soaking up gentle sunlight, curled around each other's bodies. In this world, everything was gentle.

Neither of them had bothered to wonder where Hive was going to get ingredients. There'd been enough exposition for ten wrapped up in the half-hour they'd been in this world.

--

When the sun began setting, Hive gave them little nudges with her feet until they groaned into a state of semi-wake, wincing at the faint sunburns they had gained and sniffing the air. A tiny pot (Origins unknown) was bubbling at a rolling boil over an equally tiny red plate on a flat rock, the scent of something spiced and savory snuck into their noses, reminding them that it had been a long, _long_ time since the lunch in the Airborne Battleship. A droplet would occasionally jump into the fire from the edge of the pot, hissing and releasing a smell of processed meat.

"Here." Hive handed them both mugs filled with steaming red-brown soup and two chunks of black bread. "Soak the bread and eat that until the soup cools. Don't want burned tongues, do we?"

"Bossy." Roxas snuck in a single word before he grabbed his mug, a thick piece of bread, and dug in.

The bread was rich and warm, the soup salty and filled with soaked herbs. Beyond that initial taste, the rest of the flavour was lost in the powerhouse of wheat and thin butter. Two minutes of hungry scarfing (The Sylvaen looked frightened at the rate the bread disappeared from the loaf she had cut the first slices from) hid all visual confirmation of the product, and the next five began to reduce the soup in high measure with the same gusto.

It was as delicious as it smelled, a stock of chicken and tomato made a vibrant base, lentils and shredded spinach thickening the mixture while chopped pieces of what appeared to be frankfurters bobbed into view. Namine recognized a few of the herbs used to season it: Rosemary, bayleaves, oregano; the rest were a mystery or just too discoloured.

It took another ten minutes, all the leftover soup and ungodly amounts of slurping, but Roxas and Namine finally started burping and putting pressure on their stomachs and humming to themselves to distract them from bloated indigestion.

"Learned that from the first Hae'l man I messed around with." Hive spoke up, glaring at them both for finishing her soup. "I always ate seconds in his memory."

"Really?"

"… no. But I wanted seconds. You ate them."

"Cook some more." Namine burped happily, giggled and flopped to the side. Their guide muttered something along the lines of 'Damn kids' and kicked them until they started to respond.

"I'm sleepy again. Go 'way."

"Piss off. You're training, little boy. Your little girlfriend gets to watch me kick your ass until she's soaked up enough _Madjii_." Hive jerked a thumb at a flat plain of bare, scorched earth over the hill as she dragged him, "Djava used to take me here all the time for training. It's a tradition."

"Did she beat you up too?" Roxas grumbled as he got to his feet, scratching the back of his head.

"Kinda. She did that to me." Hive pointed towards a twin-peaked mountain in the distance, there was a large crater at the base.

"She kick you into it?"

"She blew me through it. That mountain used to only have one tip." Hive shrugged, "Now, I need to teach you how to block warping attacks. Naba's probably able to use a few of his lesser techniques as a whatever-he-is-now, so if you can hold him off long enough for Namine to subdue Sora and co, they can get a little of his blood and we can get you kids back home once you escape."

"Ooookay." Roxas let himself be led out to the barren patch of land, the ground hard in contrast to the semi-boggy dirt next to the lake. He hopped up and down and summoned Oblivion, not eager to fight on a full stomach but anxious to at least learn a new thick. Dust blew up in tiny little puffs, covered orange in the setting sun, sticking to his burned skin and beginning the itching anew.

"You gonna fight in those?" Hive pointed out Roxas' scraggy overrobe, torn and ripped from stray bullets and burning timber. A taken hint, a minute to disengage from the tangle of rags, and Roxas stood in a tunic and kilt, both also a little worn.

"You look like some Game character, y'know. Just not green and missing the funky hat." Hive mused.

"Can we get on with this? What am I supposed to block, anyway?" Roxas growled, scratching his knees furiously.

Hive waited until he was finished, a curious expression on her face.

"This." She said. She blurred and vanished. Dust kicked up where she had once been, but it was otherwise still.

"Wha-"

Roxas would have finished that sentence, but he was run over by a train.

It took a few seconds of wild tumbling over the dirt before things pieced together. Trains did not punch. They did not suddenly appear from nowhere, and they definitely did not feel like a little girl had hit you in the small of the back, held the fist, and then suddenly a Behemoth was pushing you through that fist. Roxas would have enjoyed the clarification, if not for the fact that he was releasing his just-eaten lunch on his way to a stop and that, well, _he had just been run over by a fucking train._

Sporadic gasps for breath, tears of shock and pain, the seemingly distant screams of Namine were all that Roxas could hear over the cacophony of his own pulse. He re-summoned Oblivion and hauled himself upright, only to see Hive appear three feet in front of him and raise her foot.

Roxas remembered when He and Sora decided to pretend to be kids for a while longer and jumped around on Kairi's old trampoline. At one point, Sora had landed and pushed down the trampoline just as Roxas was going to land. The mat sprung up and suddenly converted the momentum of Roxa's fall, making his entire body shake and simultaneously pushed out his legs so that he was now moving upwards back first.

When Feni brought down her foot with the boom of a thunderbolt, Roxas felt the same experience as the ground bucked, flashed through the memory, found no way to right himself in the time, and braced himself for an ending worse than a face full of elastic. He wasn't disappointed; the impact his stomach took expelled the rest of his previous meal and sent him flying upwards another foot.

The landing was harsh, and the trauma of having his innards squashed like a stress ball left him lying in traces of his own puke, too stunned to roll. He was in so much pain he could barely muster anything larger than a timid choke of agony, begging Namine to heal him, for the hurt to stop.

"Get up. If you can't stop my attacks today, you will die in three days." Hive's voice was cold, with an edge of a second voice cutting through her high monotone. "You must become primal, lose yourself in the pattern. This I cannot teach, I can only beat you until you learn." She made a pulling motion in the air, drawing a silvery-green cylinder from nothing and gripped the handle.

"-are you doing?! STOP!!" He could dimly hear Namine, screaming over and over. Something clicked in his head, something was stopping her from healing him, Namine wasn't the kind of person who… well… was weak. Namine, _where was Namine?_

He tried to stand, shaking, faltering in his upward rise. Namine was still making a bundle of noises, but his head still swam and his nose was clogged up with vomit. A bleary, unfocused eye saw what appeared to be another Hive holding her arms back, unrelenting to the plethora of blows that the other blonde rained into her. He looked back and saw the first Hive, who hefted the staff and blurred again.

This time, it was less like getting run over and more like getting a baseball bat to the ribs. Pain surged, weakness followed, another strike to his already burning back knocked him to his feet. He rose again, unwilling to fall, and a strike caught him in the thigh. He bent, hissed, but did not fall again. It was like somebody had encased him in ice and then melted him with napalm, every nerve cried out for release. Even Djava's Skinfire hadn't hurt this bad. The blows rained down, never touching his head, neck, hands or groin, but the results were just as crippling.

"Smell it, boy! Taste the madness and revel in the stench of your own fear!" Hive screeched and wailed, still warping and swinging, her voice disjointed from multiple exits. Roxas was dimly aware of the blows that jutted his body out of line, his mind slowly learning to ignore Namine's anguish at seeing his breaking body. Pain rocketed up and down his spine, only to be shunted out of line to the sensation slowly growing out of his agony. Something began to shine in him, some form of deep, buried instinct, something that wasn't entirely human, something that made his throat squeeze and his chest draw in. It was general, and in the split second that Hive that warped out one portal and back through another, it became precise, absolute _focus_.

_To the left. Angle arms like this. Block. This will minimize damage, calculating average force from previous blows._

He did not hesitate. He did not falter when he found his senses had not changed and time had not slowed down. His hand was just _there_, his legs where in this stance _now_, his body was angled just so, like it had always been in that position. His Keyblade hadn't even fully formed when-

_CLANG_

Hive's staff hit the metal and she ricocheted to his right, entering another portal. Roxas did not blink as his legs dug into the ground and pulsed a circular shockwave of dust, but his heart swelled with relief and his muscles buckled down in a jolt. The strain, the undoubted agony, and the thresholds of his endurance… it was like they were never there. Limits who?

To the center left, behind you-

It was not a thought thing, it wasn't entirely mindless either. Roxas, having less time to become used to the background voices of sapient life, finally understood what Hive had tried to bring out in him. The will to live, given a voice, given a form born of pain, given no instruction beyond making sure the next strike _did not hit._ It answered this instruction with a textbook Cricket swing to the shaft of metal curving towards his shins.

_CLANG_

The right, upwa-

His arms blurred. His legs lowered, his protesting body obeyed.

_CLANG_

_Behind you aga-_

He spun, Oblivion already spinning to deflect and redirect the next attack.

_BINK_

_Above-!_

He dropped and pushed with the Keyblade against the ground, twisting his entire torso to spin half in mid-air and cut wickedly in a spiral.

_CLANG_

_Le-_

_CLANG_

_I-_

_CLANG_

_D-_

_CLANGCLANGCLANGBINKBINKCLANGCLANGCLACLACLACLACLACLACLACLAC-CLA-CLA-CLA-CL-CL-CL-CL-CL-CL-CL-CL-CL-CL-CLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNG~ _

The last hit vibrated in the air when it struck, Hive's staff flew out of its owner's grasp to sail in an arc through the air and drive into the sod twenty feet away, where it stuck. Roxas took a look at his Keyblade, and at the Sundial-like pole resting in the ground so oddly far off, and felt the power die away. Fatigue began swamping his small form, and he fell forward to the ground, propping himself in the last moment with Oblivion, sinking to one knee as he gasped and wheezed for precious air.

"Oh… _Shit._"

Even in a state of acute exhaustion, Roxas found it in him to spare a pained gasp of surprise to find Namine's normally refined mouth cursing. As soon as he felt he could, he cocked his head to sneak a peek with sweat and tear-stained eyes, wondering what was making her jaw do Goldfish impressions.

Oh. It's me.

The world went dark. He felt happy, for some reason.

--

"You see?" Hive spoke gently, Namine's eyes burning with fervor in her healing of her unconscious friend and absolute rage alternatively. Luckily, her attentions at restoring Roxas' health took precedent over releasing as many flares as she could in Hive's general direction.

"He is strong. I've seen humans like him before, and they do incredible things when they hear the cry of a loved one. I knew he would use the pattern if I-."

"Fuck up and die and never say anything again as long as you live." Namine half-growled, half-sobbed. The tones of hatred were alien to those hearing and speaking the words coming from her mouth. Hive sighed, and stood, popping a set of bedrolls and blankets from nowhere and laying them on the ground. Another pop brought forth pillows, enough for three rolls.

Finished, she removed her outer gear and settled into her bed wearing nothing but boxer-shorts and a singlet with tiny sleeves. The camp was quiet save the humming of Namine's magic and the rustle of grass in the warm night air.

"When you're done, put him to bed and go to sleep. Your turn comes tomorrow."

Namine's string of expletives lasted a full seven minutes.

* * *

_My apologies for it being so late. My exam results sucked arse._


	24. SKF?: Day One: Having Dinner

_Doing every other chapter on my profile's tricky. After the next chapter, I'll seriously get to work redoing chapters 3-7._

* * *

"Water, water, force, water, light, water, water, order, order, chaos, order, fire, moon, moon, solar, time, water, chaos, solar, and that's an unclanned, judging by her dress." Possibly-Feni finished pointing out the allegiances of the Sylvaen meandering around the tables, stools and sheltered booths that made up the culture centre ('Essentially a bum-roll. Only the bored or desperate come here.' She explained.). She looked to her left, double-taking at the sight of the two humans who alternated between nodding off on their stools and twitching frantically for any signs of trouble.

"Whoa, you kids alright?"

Kairi rubbed her eyes as Sora rested his head on the table, "We've had about six hours of sleep in two days, what do you think?" She patted Sora's shoulder, "Oi, sleeping beauty, your drool is dissolving the varni-... Feni, why is his drool dissolving the varnish?"

Following Kairi's pointer finger, Feni shrugged. "Must've forgotten to add the anti-enzyme removal layer. This place is pretty dumpy." She cast around for the bartender, hitting a button under the stool to alert him to paying customers as he tended to a drunken couple on the other side of the bench with a big stick. "Yo, barkeep, you got rooms?"

"Why'd they have rooms here? This isn't a hotel." Kairi sniffed, "Certainly doesn't smell like one," She turned her attention to the couple, who had been shoved off the stools by an assistant and levitated out the gilt doors to the outside. "You see? They don't let lovers stay, so..."

"Beg pardon, Honoured Gender, they simply refused to pay." The barkeep surprised her with his sudden appearance, having slipped in through her blind spots. His gentle face framed with enormous side-hairs as he leaned in to suggest things in a voice loaded with entendre, wearing what may have been a knowing grin if his hair didn't keep getting in the way. "But if you have the money and the time, we can arrange for you and your -why is his drool dissolving the varnish?- male to have a little privacy upstairs. We'll even throw in a fresh set of clothes."

"Male? What ma- Oh, _him_." She thumbed at Sora, "He's not really mine, he's just a... just... I... he's a..." She gulped, now that the whole idea of 'Privacy' began to filter through, "... I don't know what he is. But he isn't mine. What was that about clothes?" She tried to change the subject, furiously banishing the images _ohgodohgodohgodmybrain'suncheckedsotired_.

"We often has clients who tend to be a little hasty in disrobing, if they even bother to disrobe at all. Modesty being an individual choice regardless, shreds of cloth and silk-construct do not a preferable impression in public make." He nodded as Feni withdrew a bag from one of her many pockets and passed it on to him, leaving Kairi to look back and forth with her mouth open as the man counted out the change.

"Hey! HEY! I'm not going to bed with him!" Kairi tried to snatch the bag back, but was caught by the wrist. Feni shook her head "We've only got enough for one room. I'm fine for sleep anyway." Indeed, the amount of change was pitiful, only 15 assorted small coins, no indicators of value given.

"But... but..." She watched on helplessly as the man took the coins and fed them into a belt that ran underneath his side of the counter. "Well done, miss. Your room is upstairs, third floor, fifth door on the right." The man told her, passing her a rectangular piece of metal with a few gold strips at the end. "Would you like to join the Felatus Incognito club? Ten percent off your next night in, and a free supply of Calta oil for every deluxe suite you rent."

"We're not in town for long. Going to see the execution." Feni said, nudging Kairi and pointing out the exit. "It's not like you have to do anything, you daft girl. Weren't you complaining about sleep a minute ago?"

Kairi was speechless as she grabbed Sora by the arm and towed him towards an inconspicuous spiral staircase in the corner of the room. She got a few curious glances, some curious, some concerned about the damage of her dress, some smirking at the obviously not-running-at-full-capacity Sora who still mumbled and snored even when half-awake. Whispers started up, had they been caught in a fire? Had they been partaking in an Energy clan ritual? Had she simply drugged him up? Should they report what could possibly be rape impending?

_Nah._

Kairi went up the stairs, cursing the tight confines as Sora continued to wobble and bounce off both them and her. Eventually, after a little awkward apologising as they crashed into another couple coming down, they made it to the third floor. She began to realize something rather difficult. The building they were in had floors in the shape of rings, the hole in the middle allowed one to observe whatever was occuring on the ground floor (Which was never much). Kairi happened to go up the stairs that ensured that every single door was to the left of her, making her instructions next to useless. She peered down, finding people slowly migrating to the dor outside, caught a glimpse of Feni still drinking. She turned back to the task at hand.

"I'll just try the fifth to the left..." She muttered, pressing the rectangle she was given into a likely slot. Nothing happened. She tried the door to the right of that one. Nothing. The next one yielding no results, and Kairi's temper was beginning to fray from lugging around a Sleepy Sora.

It was ten minutes later that Kairi heard a tiny bell sound above the door she was trying. It swung open, revealing a dark circular room that smelled of delicate perfumes and rosemary. More flowers hung from the ceiling, petals in hues of light pink and deep blue that were easily missed in her relief to finally have a place to sleep.

"It... it opened? Oh thank god, it opened..." She gasped, exerting herself one last time to lurge forward, tossing Sora into a large depression in the ground filled with foam. She had simply assumed it was a foam pit like the ones built underneath the acrobatics training square at Gym, but the ripple of particles on the surface as Sora went through it seemed more liquid than anything else.

_Oh shit, did I just throw him into a pool?_

Rushing forward to retrieve her childhood companion, Kairi suddenly stopped as Sora bobbed back to the surface, a happy little grin on his face as he tossed and turned in the almost-goo. He opened his eyes halfway, patting the whatever-it-was as Kairi tentatively edged towards him.

"It's okay, 's like a Waterbed." He mumbled, "It's like... Remember when we made a bed out of pillows in the old warehouse?"

She sighed, remembering those Halcyon days of youth with the usually fuzziness that came with events she'd rather not remember. Her father had most definitely not been pleased when she woke him up sneaking through her window at 9pm, giggling alongside Sora and covered in feathers from a pillow fight. She could only imagine his reaction if she told him she'd spent the night with him in some kind of Alien Love Hotel.

Kairi let her foot settle on the foam-goo-whatever. It yielded slightly, but held as she slowly walked closer and closer to Sora, who had already closed his eyes and tried to find a way to form the substance into a blanket. She lay down next to him, finding the possibly-a-bed extremely comfortable, folds of foam cushioning the curve of her neck and the small of her back. She grabbed the stuff at the side, hoping that the amorphous foam would roll over her and Sora as a serviceable blanket. It did, and the relief at finally being able to rest overcame her initial concern that she and Sora were sharing the same bed. She pulled a little on Sora's arm, tugging it over until she was able to rest her neck on it, prefering a more solid cushion to the substance above and beneath her. He mumbled in something like resignation, draping his other arm over her shoulders and hanging his hand loose as he softly exhaled into her face, already falling asleep. Kairi considered it a small blessing that his breath didn't stink before quickly dozing off.

Exhausted, a little hungry and without changing their clothes or even showering, the two of them dropped off into slumber.

–

"So... the execution, huh? Fancy that." The barkeep whistled tunelessly under his breath, checking the conveyor belt under the bench. "Lot of folks are looking forward to that, a lot of rumours, too. Stuff like the ol' Avatar's looking a little different, and how the HIST are planning on disrupting the ceremony to spring him loose."

"Of course they'd say something like that. It takes about twenty years to find a new Avatar, give or take. The Moon Clan wouldn't ally with anyone once their Avatar's gone." Feni snorted, "The HIST have to get whatever they can, y'see. If it can fire a gun, they'll take it, Hae'l or Moon Clan or whatever. I don't suppose they changed the time?"

"Nope, still three days. Security'd be tight around Hae'van, I'd imagine. They've been setting up there since the day he was captured."

"Well, what do you know. My ticketeer said he'd be offed in T'en." Feni traced her finger around the rim of her wide-brimmed glass, eyes narrowed.

"They changed it. Apparently they're going to seal off the world to prevent any of the other Avatars or Organisations from slipping in." He finished tweaking the feed mechanism, watching the last stragglers walk out the door or up the stairs. "You know, I heard something along the lines that the Avatar got split in half somehow on some uncharted world when Kaedjii and Phoen beat him off on Solmae-haste."

"Where'd you hear that?" Feni looked up, curious.

"The Psykers checked the magicka resonance in the Sephiroth. Past the whole alive but separated thing, they couldn't figure out much else. And, you know, back when he used to come here, he'd always buy a certain range of drinks..." He sent a meaningful glance towards the four glasses left over from Feni's drinking. "... I always thought that was strange, but who can tell what an Avatar thinks -Ah, curse the foolish world..." He muttered, his left wing colliding with a hanging flowerpot above the bar, "-Must've been the fifth time I've done that today. Where was I..."

"The drinks." Feni prompted, finishing her last glass.

"Mmmm. You've got almost gone past your limit there, Honoured Gender. I'll let you have one more drink, though. On the house."

There was a pause. Sylvaen eyed Sylvaen, pupils shrinking in suspicion, in trepidation. Feni finally broke the silence.

"Got any milk?"

The barkeep nodded, satisfied, reaching for a container in the chiller under the bench, topping the glass to the brim. "Thank you." She muttered, slowly draining it as the barkeep wondered what next to ask.

"Where have you been, Lord?" He hazarded.

"Here and there." Feni spoke, a man's voice bizarrely flowing from within her, deep and rumbly and almost _dead_. The barkeep straightened up in shock like he had been electrocuted, his hands immediately risen to protect his front as he chanted the verbal requirement for a shielding weave.

"Oh come now, man, you suspected as much when I bought the drinks." The false-Feni laughed, a powerful and gleeful chuckle rolling from between its lips. "Now, my little jitterbug, you have the chance to serve an Avatar. Think of the honour!" It's face flashed with some form of emotion, and wispy tendrils of shadow rolled from the edges of its eyes.

The barkeep backed up, "No, I do not wish to serve! I'm only two hundred!!"

"Ah, I thought you were at least six, going by your hairstyle." Feni shrugged, "Regardless, you are of more use to me when your mouth speaks of information, you shall not fear the separation for as long as you suspect it. Does old Rathi still come here?"

"He stopped four years ago, lord." Said the barkeep, his legs shaking. He placed his hands on the bench to steady himself and took the verbal initiative. "His disciple, Alitan, comes here at his bequest however. He is weak to _Totom_, and speaks too freely of his work." The barkeep looked left and right, before refocusing his attention on the strange woman with a man's voice and a milk moustache. "The council gave five days to find your other pieces or to draw them towards your body. They are not sure of what to expect, they do not know how many pieces you have become, or what happened to your Avatar spirit."

"That will work wondrously." Feni chuckled appreciatively, handing the glass back. "I look forward to my revival, and I highly suggest you be nowhere near. I will need to separate hundreds, and you may be caught in the soul vacuum." She tapped a rhythm on the desk, smiling. "I suppose many are wondering why I put up such a poor fight against Kaedjii?"

"No, lord. You were always rather poorly ranked in the matchings." The barkeep admitted, wincing as the face before him grew sour. "But the resonance in Eeon's chamber has been studied. Opinion is divided on the subject is divided as to whether the Avatar Spirit has found a new host, or whether it wishes to be released of its current one."

"So they're wondering if I'm actually dead, huh?" Feni grinned, "Marvellous, they are concerned as to the sincerity of the council regarding my status, perhaps even as a whole. Marvellous."

"Is it true, lord?"

"Hmmm?"

The barkeep leaned forward. "Are you still the Avatar of the Moon Clan?"

Feni blinked, "In a way. I had to transfer the spirit. Safe keeping. I found an exceptional host for it, he seems to be managing it well, may even be allowed to pull on some of its power." She spoke slowly, "I haven't felt its voice behind my mind for so many years. It's a pity that I will have to be whole to enjoy that sensation."

The barkeep rolled the 'he' around in his mind, before turning to look upwards, towards the third floor. "Is he...?"

"**You are no longer useful to Naba.**"

_He knew that voice. He heard it in nightmares, in terror, in the darkest caverns of his heart._

He was quick enough to see Feni grab a strange triangular knife from within her robes and slice in a grey-black blur of metal. He was not quick enough to stop it cutting through his neck, leaving him gurgling for breath as he desperately clawed at his throat, releasing half-formed healing weaves in a vain attempt to prolong his life. He wished, hopelessly wished that he had decided to found an establishment where lawsuits from picture-scandals hadn't required he remove all the cameras inside. He wished he had let his aide work the night instead of studying for his apprenticeship. He wished that this _thing_ in front of him hadn't ever appeared in his life.

With that, he succumbed to the rigours of drowning in his own blood. Feni grinned again, looking down into his eyes as the light faded in them. "Wrong, but pretty close." She nodded, twirling Yuffie's borrowed Kunai on her middle finger before pocketing it again, and stretching her legs onto the countertop.

_Maybe I should have let Ninja girl have this back? It wasn't like Tokas had even bled on this thing._

She went over the counter, grabbing the dying man's neck and making a pulling motion with her other hand, drawing a blue stream from his gaping wound. The stream bulged into a shape of the man's neck, growing until a blue-white haze in his shape hovered above his now-silent corpse.

_Another soul to join the armies of the dead. Just like old times._

The haze funneled and vanished into her chest with a tiny scream. Feni smiled again, feeling herself buzz with life once more. She watched the blood pooling on the wooden floor with detached interest, before glancing back at the cadaver.

_Now, how to dispose of the body?_

She smiled, with no trace of humour. She let her eyes burn with need, with hunger. She licked her lips. She knew the answer. It was lucky she didn't need sleep, because she was planning to savour this.

_Dinner time._

* * *

_University's starting again. Time to grind!_

_Thanks for your patience thus far.  
_


End file.
